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THE THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR. 

M. AURELIUS ANTONINUS. 

V 



TRANSLATED BY GEORGE LONG. 




NEW YORK 

JOHN B. ALDEK, PUBLISHER 

1891 






<3ift from 
tvirs. Etta F, Winter 
Sept. 20 1932 



17^ 



</ 



CONTENTS. 



M. AuREiJus Antoninus ..... 5 
The Philosophy of Antoninus ... 19 

Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus . 41 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH > 

OF 

M. AURELIUS ANTONINUS. 

M. Antoninus was born at Rome a. d. 121, on the26*L of 
April. His fatlier Aanius Yerus died while he was praeior. 
His mother was Don itia Calvilla, also named Lucilla. The 
Emperor Antoninus Pius married Annia Galeria Faustina, . 
the sister of Annius 7erus, and was conse^quentiy Antoni- 
nus' uncle. When Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius and 
declared him his suci:essor in the empire, Antoninus Pius 
adopted both L. Ceionius Commodus, the son of Aeliua 
Caesar, and M. Antoninus, whose original name was M. 
Annius Yerus. Amoninus took the name of M. Aelius 
Aurelius Yerus, to w hich was added the title of Caesar in 
A. D. 139 : the name Aelius belonged to Hadrian's familjj, 
and Aurelius was tho name of Antoninus Pius. When M.- 
Antoninus became Augustus, he dropped the name of Yerus 
and took the name of Antoninus. Accordingly he is gener?- 
ally named M. Aurelius Antoninus, or simply M. Anton* 
inus. 

The youth was most carefully brought up. He thanks 
the gods (i. 17) that he had good grandfathers, good par- 
ents, a good sister, good teachers, good associates, good 
kinsmen and friends, nearly everything good. He had the 
happy fortune to witness the example of his uncle and 
adoptive father Antoninus Pius, and he has recorded in his 
work (i. 16 ; vi. 30) the virtues of this excellent man and 
prudent ruler. Like many young Romans he tried his hand 
at poetry and studied rhetoric. Herodes Atticus and M. 
Cornelius Pronto were his teachers in eloquence. There 
are extant letters between Pronto and Marcus, which show 
the great affection of the pupil for the master, and the mas- 
ter's great hopes of his Industrious pupil. M. Antoninus 
jtnentions Pronto (i. 11) among those to whom he was in- 
debted for his education. 

When he was eleven years old, he assumed the ,dress of 
philosophers, something plain and coarse, became a hard 
.student, and lived a mOst laborious abstemious life, even so 
far as to injure his health. Pinally, he abandoned poetry 
rand rhetoric for philosophy, and he attached himself to the 
sect of the Stoics. But he did not neglect the study of law, 
which was a useful preparation for the high place which lie 
was designed to fill. His teacher was L. Yolusianus Mae- 
cianus, a distinguished jurist. We must suppose that he 
learned the Roman discipline of arms, which was a neces- 
sary part of the education of a man who afterwards led b.i» 
troops to battle against a warlike race. - 



8 SIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

Antoninus has recorded in his first book the names of his 
teachers and the obligations which he owed to each of 
them. The way in which he speaks of what he learned 
from them might seem to savor of vanity or self-praise, if 
we look carelessly at the way in which he has expressed 
himself ; but if any one draws this conclusion, he will be 
mistaken. Antoninus means to commemorate the merits 
of his several teachers, what they taught and what a pupil 
might learn from them. Besides, this book like the eleven 
other books, was for his own use, and if we may trust the 
note at the end of tbe first book, it was written during one 
of M. Antoninus' campaigns against the Quadi, at a time 
when the commemoration of the virtues of his illustrious 
teachers might remind him of their lessons and the practi- 
cal uses which he might derive from them. 

Among his teachers of philosophy was Sextus of Chae- 
roneia, a grandson of Plutarch. What he learned from this 
excellent man is told by himself (i. 9). His favorite teacher 
was Q. Junius. Eusticus (i. 7), a philosopher and also amah 
of practical good sense in public affairs. Rusticus was the 
adviser of Antoninus after he became emperor. Toung 
men who are destined for high places are not often fortu- 
nate in those who are about them, their companions and 
teachers ; and I do not know any example of a young 
prince having liad an education which can be compared 
with that of M. Antoninus. Such a body of teachers dis- 
tinguished by their acquirements and their character will 
hardly be collected again ; and as to the pupil, we have not 
had one like him since. 

Hadrian died in July A. D. 138. and was succeeded by 
Antoninus Pius. M. Antoninus manled Faustina, his 
cousin, the daughter of Pius, probably about A. d. 146, for 
he had a daughter born in 147. M. Antoninus received 
from his adoptive father the title of Caesar and was associ- 
ated with him in the administration of the state. The 
. father and the adopted son lived together in perfect friend- 
ship and confidence. Antoninus was a dutiful son, and the 
emperor Pius loved and esteemed him. 

Antoninus Piui died in March 161. The Senate, it is 
said, urged M. Antoninus to take the solemn administra- 
tion of the empire, but he associated with himself the other 
adopted son of Pius, L. Ceionius Commodus, who is gener- 
ally called L. Verus. Thus Eome for the first time had 
two emperors. Verus was an indolent man of pleasure and 
unworthy of his station. Antoninus however bore with 
him, and it is said that Verus had sense enough to pay to 
his colleague the respect due to his character. A virtuous 
emperor and a loose partner lived together in peace, and 
their alliance was strengthened by ^toninus giving to 
Verus for wife his daughter Lucilla. 

The reign of Antoninus was first troublea by a Parthian 
VfAT., in which Verus was sent to command, but he did 
nothing, and the success that was obtained by the Bomans 
in Armenia and on the Euphrates and Tigris was due to his 
generals. This Parthian war ended in 165. 

The north of Italy was also threatened by the rude people 
■peyond the Alps from the borders of Qallia to the eastern 



M. AUnELIXTS ANTOKINXTS, 7 

side of the Hadriatic- These barbarians attempted to break 
into Italy, as the Germanic nations liad attempted near 
three hundred years before; and tiie rest of the life of An- 
toninus with some intervals was employed in driving back 
the invaders. In 169 Verus suddenly died, and Antoninus 
administered the state alone. 

In A. D. 175 Avidius Cassius, a brave and skilful Roman 
commander who was at the head of the troops in Asia, re- 
volted and declared himself Augustus. But Cassins was 
assassinated by some of his officers, and so the rebellion 
came to an end. Antoninus showed his humanity by his 
treatment of the family and the partisans of Cassius, and his 
letter to the senate in which he recommends mercy is ex- 
tant. (Vulcatius, Avidius Cassius, c. 12.) 

Antoninus set out for the east on hearing of Cassius's re- 
volt. We know that in A. d. 174 he was engaged in a war 
against the Quadi, Marcomanni and other Germanic tribes, 
and it is probable that he went direct from the German war 
without returning to Rome. His wife Faustina who accom- 
panied him into Asia died suddenly at the foot of the Tau- 
rus to the great grief of her husband. Capitolinus- who has 
written the life of Antoninus, and also Dion Cassius accuse 
the empress of scandalous infidelity to her husband and of 
abominable lewdness. But Capitolinus says that Antoninus 
either knew it not or pretended not to know it. Nothing is 
so common as such malicious reports in all ages, and the 
history of imperial Rome is full of them. Antoninus loved 
his wife and he says that she was " obedient, affectionate, 
and simple." The same scandal had been spread aboift 
Faustina's mother, the wife of Antoninus Pius, and yet be 
too was perfectly satisfied with his wife. Antoninus Pius 
says in a letter to Fronto that he would rather live in exile 
with his wife than in his palace at Rome without her. 
There are not many men who would give their wives a better 
character than these two emperors. Capitolinus wrote ia 
the time of Diocletian. He may have intended to tell th« 
truth, but he is a poor, feeble biographer. Dion Cassiits, 
the most malignant of historians, always reports and per- 
haps he believed any scandal against anybody- 
Antoninus continued his journey to Syria and Egypt, and 
on his return to Italy through Athens he was initiated iiito 
the Eleusinian mysteries. It was the practice of th« empercar 
to conform to the established rites of the age and to perform 
religious ceremonies with due solemnity. We cannot con- 
clude from this that he was a superstitious man, though we 
might perhaps do so, if his book did not show that he waa 
not. But this is only one among many instances that a 
ruler's pubUc acts do not always prove his real opinions. A 
prudent governor will not roughly oppose even the supersti- 
tions of his people, and though he may wish that they were 
wiser, he will know that he cannot make them so by offend- 
ing their prejudices. 

Antoninus and his son Commodus entered Rome intfi- 
umph on the 23d of December, a.d. 176. In the following 
year Commodus was associated with his father in the empire 
and took the name of Augustus. This year a.b. 177 is 
memorable in ecclesiastical Ui story. Attalus and oth«rs 



8 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCB. 

■were put to death at Lyon for their adherence to the Chrisr 
tian religion. The evidence of this persecution is a letter 
preserved by Eusebius (E. H. v. 1; printed in Routh's Ee- 
liquiae Sacrae, vol. i. with notes). The letter is from the 
Christians of Vienna and Lugdunum in Gallia (Vienna and 
Lyon) to their Christian brethren in Asia and Phrygia; and 
it is preserved perhaps nearly entire. It contains a veiy 
particular description of the tortures inflicted on the Chris- 
tians in Grallia, a/id it states that while the persecution was 
going on, Attains a Christian and a Roman citizen was 
loudly demanded by the populace and brought into the am- 
phitheatre, but the governor ordered him to be reserved with 
the rest who were in prison until he had received instruc- 
tions from the emperor. It is not clear who the "rest" 
were who are mentioned in the letter. Many had been 
tortured before the governor thought of applying to the 
emperor. The imperial rescript, says the letter, was that 
the Christians should be punished, but if they would deny 
their faith, they must be released. On this the work began 
again. The Christians who were Roman citizens were be- 
headed: the rest were exposed to the wild beasts in the 
amphitheatre. Some modern writers on ecclesiastical his- 
tory, when they use this letter, say nothing of the wonderful 
Btories of the martyrs' sufferings. Sanctus, as the letter 
(jays, was burnt with plates of hot iron till his body was one 
•tore and had lost all human form, but on being put to the 
rack he recovered his former appearantie under the torture, 
which was thus a cure instead of a punishment. He was 
afterwards torn by beasts, and placed en an iron chair and 
roasted. He died at last. 

The letter is one piece of evidence. The writer, whoever 
he v?as that wrote in the name of the Gallic Christians, is 
our evidence both for the ordinary and the extraordinary 
circumstances of the story, and we cannot accept his evi- 
dence for one part and reject the other. We often receive 
kinall evidence as proof of a thing which we believe to be 
Within the limits of probability or possibility, and we reject 
tkactly the same evidence, when the thing to which it refers 
appears very improbable or impossible. But this is a false 
knethod of inquiry, though it is followed by some modern 
♦rriters, who select what they like from a story and reject 
the rest of the evidence; or if they do not reject it, they dis- 
lioinestly suppress it. A man can only act consistently by 
liccepting all this letter or rejecting it all, and we cannot 
blame him for either. But he who rejects it may still ad- 
toit that such a letter may be founded on real facts ; and he 
would make this admission as the most probable way of 
Bccounting for the existence of the letter : but if, as he 
would suppose, the writer has stated some things falsely, he 
cannot tell what part of his story is worthy of credit. 

The war on the northern frontier appears to have been 
uninterrupted during the visit of Antoninus to the East, and 
■ on his return the emperor again left Rome to oppose the 
barbarians. The Germanic people were defeated in a great 
battle A.D. 179. During this campaign the emperor was 
seized with some contagious malady, of which he died in 
the camp at Sirmium (Mitrovitz) on the Save in Lower Pan- 



M. AU MELIUS ANTONINUS. 9 

nonia, but at Yindebona (Vienna) according to other au- 
thorities, on the 17th of March A.d. 180, in the fifty-ninth 
year of his age. His son Commodus was with him. His 
body, or the ashes probably, was carried to Kome, and he 
received the honor of deification. Those who could afford 
it had his statue or bust, and when Capitolinus wrote, many 
people still had statues of Antoninus among the Dei Pe- 
nates or household deities. He was in a manner made a 
saint. His son Commodus erected to his memory the An- 
tonine column which is now in the Piazza Collona at Kome. 
The bassi rilievi which are placed in a spii'al line round the 
shaft commemorate his father's victories over the Marco- 
manni and the Quadi, and the miraculous shower of i-aiu 
which refreshed the Eoman soldiers and discomfited their 
enemies. The statue of Antoninus was placed on the col- 
umn, but it was removed at some time unknown, and a 
bronze statue of St. Paul was put in its place by Pope Six- 
tus the fifth. 

The historical evidence for the times of Antoninus is very 
defective, and some of that which remains is not credible. 
The most curious is the story about the miracle which hap- 
pened in A.D. 174, during the war with the Quadi. The 
Eoman army was in danger of perishing by thirst, but a 
sudden storm drenched them with rain, while it discharg(>d 
fire and hail on their enemies, and the Romans gained a 
great victory. AH the authorities which speak of the battle 
speak also of the miracle. The Gentile writers assign it to 
their gods, and the Christians to the intercession of the 
Christian legion in the emperor's army. To confirm the 
Christian statement it is added that the emperor gave the 
title of Thundering to this legion ; but Dacier and others 
who maintain the Christian report of the miracle, a.dmit 
that this title of Thundering or Lightning was not given to 
this legion because the Quadi were struck with lightning, 
but because there was a figure of lightning on their shields, 
and that this title of the legion existed in the time of Au- 
gustus. 

Scaliger also had observed that the legion was called 
Thundering before the reign of Antoniiius. Welearirthia 
from Dion Cassius (Lib. 55, c. 23, and the note of Reima- 
rus) who enumerates all the legions of Augustus' time. Tha 
name Thundering or Lightning also occurs on an inscrip» 
tion of the reign of Trajan, which was found at Trieste, 
Eusebius (v. 5) when he relates the miracle, quotes Apoli, 
narius, bishop of Hierapolis, as authority for this pamf 
being given to the legion Melitene by the emperor in conse. 
qiience of the success which he obtained through theii 
prayers ; from which we may estimate the value of Apolin- 
arius' testimony. Eusebius does not say in what book o< 
Apolinarius the statement occurs. Dion says that the 
Thundering legion was stationed in Cappadocia in the tim« 
of Augustus. Valesius also observes that in the Notitia ofr 
the Imperium Romanum there is mentioned under the con?- 
mander of Armenia the Praefectura of the twelfth legion 
named " Thundering Melitene ; " and this position in 
Armenia will agree with what Dion says of its position in 
Cappadocia. Accordingly Valesius concludes that Melitene 



10 BIOGBAPIIICAL SKETCH. 

was not the name of the legion, but of the town in which It 
was statioiied. The legions did not, he says, take their 
name from the place where they were on duty, but from the 
country in which they were raised, and therefore, what 
Eusebius says about the Melitene does not seem probable to 
feirn. Yet Valesius on the authority of Apolinariua and 
Tertullian believed that the miracle was worked through the 
prayers of the Christian soldiers in the emperor's army, 
kufinus does not give the name of Melitene to this legion, 
says Valesius, and probably he purposely omitted it, be- 
cause he knew that Melitene was the name of a town in Ar- 
menia Minor, where the legion was stationed in his time. 

The emperor, it is said, made a report of his victory to the 
Senate, which we may believe, for such was the practice ; 
but we do not know what ho said in his letter, for it is not 
«xtant. Dacier assumes that the emperor's letter was pur- 
posely destroyed by the Senate or the enemies of Chris- 
Itanity, that so honorable a testimony to the Christians and 
tJieir religion might not be pei-petuated. The critic has 
however not seen that he contradicts himself when he tells 
us the purport of the letter, for he says that it was destroyed, 
and even Eusebius could not find it. But there does exist a 
letter in Greek addressed by Antoninas to the Roman Sen- 
ate after this memorable victory. It \a sometimes printed 
after Justin's second Apology, though it is totally unconnec- 
ted with the apologies. This letter is one of the most stupid 
forgeries of the many which exist, and it cannot be possibly 
founded even on the genuine report of Antoninus to the 
Senate. If it were genuine, it would free the emperor from 
the charge of persecuting men because they were Christians, 
for he says in this false letter that if a man Accuse another 
only of being a Christian and the accused confess and there 
is nothing else against him, he must be set free; with this 
monstrous addition made by a man Inconceivably ignorant, 
that the informer must be burnt alive.* 

During the time of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Antoni- 
nus there appeared the first Apology of Justinus, and under 
M. Antoninus the Oration of Tatian against the Greeks, 
Which was a fierce attack on the established religions, the 
address of Athenagoras to M. Antoninus on behalf of the 
Christians, and the Apology of Melito, bishop of Sardes, 
also addressed to the emperor, and that of Apolinarius. 
The first Apology of Justinus is addressed to Antoninus 
Pius and his two adopted sons M. Antoninus and L. Verus; 
but we do not know whether they read it. The second 
Apology of Justinus is addressed to the Roman Senate, but 

* Euseblna (v. 6) quotes TertuUian's Apology to the Roman 
Senate in confirmation of the story. Tertullian, he says, writes 
that letters of the emperor were extant, in wliich he declares that 
bis army was saved by the prayers of the Christians ; and that 
he " threatened to piniish with death those who ventured to ac- 
cuse us. " It is possible that the forged letter which is now ext.int 
may be on« of those which Tertullian had seen, for he uses th« 
pluEil number "letters." A great deal has been written about 
this miracle of the Thucdeiing Legion, and more than is worth 
. ijeading. 



M. AUHELIUS ANTOmKUS, ir] 

there is nothing in it which shows its date. In one passage 
where he is speaking of the persecution of the Christians, 
Justinus says that even men who followed the Stoic doc- 
trines, when they ordered their lives according to ethical 
reason, were hated and murdered, such as Heraclitus, 
Musonius in his own times and others ; for all those who in 
any way labored to live according to reason and avoided 
M ickedness were always hated ; and this was the effect of 
the work of daemons. 

Justinus himself is said to have been put to death at 
Kome, because he refused to sacrifice to the gods; but the 
circumstances of his death are doubtful, and the time is un- 
certain. It cannot have been in the reign of Hadrian, as 
one authority states ; nor in the time of Antoninus Pius, if 
the second Apology was written in the time of M. Anton- 
inus. 

The persecution in which Polycarp suffered at Smyrna be- 
longs to the time of M. Antoninus. The evidence for it is 
the letter of the church of Smyrna to the churches of Philome- 
lium and the other Christian churches, and it is preserved by 
Eusebins (E. H. iv. 15). But the critics do not agree about 
the time of Polycarp' s death, differing in the two extremes 
to the amount of twelve years. The circimistances of Poly- 
cap's martyrdom were accompanied by miracles, one of 
which Eusebius (iv. 15) has omitted, but it appears in the 
oldest Latin version of the letter, which Usher published, 
and it is supposed that this version was made not long after 
the time of Eusebius. The notice at the end of the letter 
states that it was transcribed by Caius from the copy of 
Irenaeus, the disciple of Polycarp, then transcribed by So- 
crates at Corinth ; " after which I Pionius again wrote it 
out from the copy above mentioned, having searched it ottt 
by the revelation of Polycarp, who directed me to it," etc. 
Tlie story of Polycarp's martyrdom is embellished with 
miraculous circumstances which some modern writers on 
ecclesiastical history take the liberty of omitting.* 

In order to form a proper notion of the condition of the 
Christians under M. Antoninus we must go back to Trajan's 
time. When the younger Pliny was governor of Bithynia, 
the Christians were numerous in those parts, and the wor- 
shippers of the old religion were falling off. The temples 
were deserted, the festivals neglected, and there were no 
pm*chasers of victims for sacrifice. Those who were inter- 
ested in the maintenance of the old religion thus found that 
their profits were in danger. Christians of both sexes and 
of all ages were brought before the governor, who did not 
know what to do with them. He could come to no other 
conclusion than this, that those who confessed to be Chris- 

* Conyers Middleton, An Inquiry ijito the Miraculous Powers, 
etc. p. 126. Middleton says that Eusebius omitted to mention tlie 
dove, which flew out of Polycarp's body, and Dodwell and Arch- 
bishop Wake have done the same. Wake says, " I am so little a 
friend to such miracles that I thought it better with Eusebius to 
omit that circumstance than to mention it from Bishop Usher'a 
Manuscript," which manuscript however, says Middleton, be 
afterwards declares to be so well attested that we need not *J» 
fwrtfUer assurance of the truth of it. 



!l"2 ^lOGUAPBlGAL SKETCff. 

tians and persevered in their religion ought to be ptmished; 
if for nothing else, for their invincible obstinacy. He found 
no crimes proved against the Christians, and he could only 
characterize their religion as a depraved and extravagant 
-superstition, which might be stopped, if the people were al- 
lowed the opportunity of recanting. Pliny wrote this in a 
letter to Trajan (Plinius, Ep. x. 97). He asked for the em- 
peror's directions, because he did not know what to do: 
He remarks that he had never been engaged in judicial in- 
quiries about the Christians, and that accordingly he did 
not know what or how far to inquire and punish. This 
•proves that it was not a new thing to inquire into a man's 
profession of Christianity and to punish him for it. Tra- 
jan's Rescript is extant. He approved of the governor's 
judgment in the matter ; but he said that no search must 
be made after, the Christians ; if a man was charged with 
the new religion and convicted, he must not be punished, 
if he affirmed that he was not a Christian and confirmed his 
denial by showing his reverence to the heathen gods. He 
added that no notice must be taken of anonymous informa- 
tions, for such things were of bad example. Trajan was a 
mild and sensible man, and both motives of mercy and 
policy probably also induced him to take as little notice of 
the Christians as he could ; to let them live in quiet, if it 
were possible. Trajan's Eescript is the first legislative act 
of the head of the Roman state with reference to Chris- 
tianity, which is known to us. It does not appear that the 
Christians were further disturbed under his reign. The 
martyrdom of Ignatius by the order of Trajan himself is not 
universally admitted to be an historical fact. 

In the time of Hadrian it was no longer possible for the 
Roman government to overlook the great increase of the 
Christians and the hostility of the common sort to them. 
Jf the governors in the provinces wished to let them alone, 
they could not resist the fanaticism of the heathen com- 
munity, who looked on the Christians as atheists. The 
Jews too who were settled all over the Roman Empire were 
as hostile to the Christians as the Gentiles were. With the 
time of Hadrian begin the Christian Apologies, which show 
plainly what the popular feeling towards the Christians then 
was. . A rescript of Hadrian to the Proconsul of Asia, 
which stands at the end of Justin's first apology, instructs 
the governor that innocent people must not be troubled and 
false accusers must not be allowed to extort money from 
them ; the charges against the Christians must be made in 
due form and no attention must be paid to popular clamors: 
when Christians were regularly prosecuted and convicted of 
*iny illegal act, they must be punished according to their 
deserts ; and false accusers also must be punished. An- 
toninus Pius is said to have published Rescripts to the same 
effect. The terms of Hadrian's Eescript seem very favor- 
able to the Christians, but if we understand it in this sense, 
that they were only to be punished like other people for 
illegal acts, it would have had no meaning, for that could 
have been done without asking the em];)eror's advice. The 
real purpose of the Rescript is that Christians must be pun- 
ished if they persisted in their belief, and would not prove 



M. auhelius antoninus. 13 

their renunciation of it by acknowledging the heathen re- 
ligion. This was Trajan's rule, and we have no reason for 
supposing that Hadrian granted more to the Christians than 
Trajan did. There is printed at the er.d of Justin's Apology 
a Rescript of Antoninus Pius.to the Commune of Asia and 
it is also in Eusebius*(E. H. iv. 13). The Rescript de- 
clares that the Christians, for they are meant, though the 
name Christians does not occur in the Rescript, were not to 
be disturbed, unless they were attempting something against 
the Roman rule, and no man was to be punished simply for 
being a Christian. But this Rescript is spurious. Any 
man moderately acquainted with Roman history will see at 
once from the style and tenor that it is a clumsy forgery. 

In the time of M. Antoninus the opposition between the 
old and the new belief was still stronger, and the adherents 
of the heathen religion urged those in authority to a more 
regular resistance to the invasions of the Christian faith. 
Melito in his apology to M. Antoninus represents the Chris- 
tians of Asia as persecuted under new imperial orders. 
Shameless informers, he says, men who were greedy after 
the property of others, used these orders as a means of rob- 
bing those who were doing no harm. He doubts if a just 
■-;',<Bmperor could have ordered anything so unjust ; and if the 
,jast order was really not from the emperor, the Christians 
entreat him not to give them up to their enemies.! We con- 

• In Eusebius the name at the beginning of the Rescript is that 
of M. Antoninus ; and so we cannot tell to which of the two ewe 
perors the forger assigned the Rescript. There are also a few 
verbal differences. 

^ The author of the Alexandrine Chronicum says that Marcus 
'being moved by tlie entreaties of Melito and other heads of the 
church wrote an Epistle to the Commune of Asia in which he for- 
bade the Christians to be troubled on account of their religion. 
Valesius supposes this to be the letter which is contained in 
Eusebius (iv. 13). and to be the answer to the apology of Melito 
•of which I shall soon give the substance. But Marcus certainly 
did not write this letter which is in Eusebius, and we know not 
what answer he made to Melito. 

t Eusebius, iv. 26; and Routh's Reliquiae, Sacrse vol. I. and the 
notes. The interpretation of this Fragment is not easy. Mosheim 
misunderstood one passage so far as to affirm that Marcus prom- 
ised rewards to those who denounced the Christians; an interpre- 
,taticu which is eutirely false- Melito calls the Christian religion 
'■f our philosophy," which began among barbarians (the Jews), and 
flourished among the Roman subjects in the time of Augustus, to 
the great advantage of the empire, for from that time the power 
of the Romans grew great and glorious. He says that the emper- 
or has and will have as the successor to Augustus' power the 
good wishes of men, if he will protect that philosophy which 
grew up with the empire and began with Augustus, which phil- 
osophy the predecessors of Antoninus honored in addition to the 
other religions. He further says that the Christian religion had 
suffered no harm since the time of Augustus, but on the contrary 
had enjoyed all honor and respect that any man could desire. 
Nero and Domitian, he says, were alone persuaded by some ma- 
licious men to calumniate the Christian religion, and this was the 
origin of the false charges against the Christians. But this was 
corrected by the emperers wlio immediately preceded Antoninus, 
whoofteu by their Rescripts reproved those who attempted to 



14 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

elude from this that there were at least imperial Recruits 
or Constitutions of M. Antoninus, which were made the 
foundation of these persecutions. The fact of being a 
Christian was now a crime and punished, unless the accused 
denied their religion. Then come the persecutions lat 
iSmyrna, which some modern critics place in A. d. 167, ten 
years before the persecution of Lyon. The governors of 
the provinces under M. Antoninus might have found enough 
even in Trajan's Rescript to warrant them in punishing 
Christians, and the fanaticism of the people would drive 
them to persecution, even if they were unwilling. But be- 
sides the fact of the Christians rejecting all the heathen 
ceremonies, we must not forget that they plainly maintained 
that all the heathen religions were false. The Christians 
thus declared war against the heathen rites, and it is hardty 
necessary to observe that this was a declaration of hostility 
against the Roman government, which tolerated all the va- 
rious forms of superstition that existed in the empire, and 
could not consistently tolerate another religion, which de- 
clared that all the rest were false, and all the splendid cer- 
monies of the empire only a worship of devils. 

If we had a true ecclesiastical history, we should know hoT* 
the Roman emperors attempted to check the new religion, 
how they enforced their principle of finally punishing Chris- 
tians, simply as Christians, which Justin in his Apology 
affirms that they did, and I have no doubt that he tells the 
truth; how far popular clamor and riots went in this mat- 
ter, and how far many fanatical and ignorant Christian^, 
for there were many such, contributed to excite the fanati- 
cism on the other side and to embitter the quarrel between 
the Roman government and the new religion. Our extant 
ecclesiastical histories are manifestly falsified, and what 
truth they contain is grossly exaggerated ; but the fact is 
certain that in the time of M. Antoninus the heathen popur 
lations were in open hostility to the Christians, and that 
under Antoninus' rule men were put to death because thev 
were Christians. Eusebius in the preface to his fifth boo^ 
remarliS that in the seventeenth year of Antoninus' reign ^ 

trouble the Christians. Hadrian, Antoninus' grandfather, wrote 
to many, and among them to the governor of Asia. Antoninus 
Pius when Marcus was associated with him in the empire wrote 
to the cities, that they must not trouble the Christians; amonj; 
others to the people of Larissa, Thessalonica, the Athenians and 
all the Greeks. Melito concluded thus : We are persuaded that 
thou who hast about these things the same mind that they had, 
nay rather one much more humane and philosophical, wilt do all 
that we ask thee. — This Apology was written after A. ». 169, the 
year in which Verus died, for it speaks of Marcus only and his 
eon Commodus. According to Melito's testimony, Christians had 
only been punished for their religion in the time of Nero and 
Domitian, and the persecutions began again in the time of M. 
Antoninus and were founded on his orders, which were abused 
as he seems to mean. He distinctly affirms " that the race of 
the godly is now persecuted and harrassed by fresh imperial 
orders in Asia, a thing which had never happened before." But 
we know that all this is not true, and that Christians had been 
>uui8Ued iu Trajan's time. 



M. AUEELJUS AXTONINUS. 15 

tn some parts of the world the persecution of the Christians 
became more violent, and that it proceeded from the popu- 
lace in the cities ; and he adds hi his usual style of exaggera- 
tion, that we may infer from what took place in a single 
nation that myriads of martyrs were made in the habitable 
earth. The nation which he alludes to is Gallia; and he 
then proceeds to give the letter of the churches of Vienna 
and Lugdunura. It is probable that he has assigned the 
true cause of the persecutions, the fanaticism of the popu- 
lace, and that both governors and emperor liad a great deal 
of trouble with these disturbances. How far Marcus was 
cognizant of these cruel proceedings we do not know, for 
the historical records of his reign are very defective. He 
did not make the rule against the Christians, for Trajan did 
that; and if we admit that he would have been willing to 
let the Christians alone, we cannot affirm that it was in his 
power, for it would be a great mistake to suppose that An- 
toninus had the unlimited authority, which some modem 
sovereigns have had. His power was limited by certain 
constitutional forms, by the Senate, and by the precedents 
of Ills predecessors. We cannot admit that such a man was 
an active persecutor, for there is no evidence that he was, 
though it is certain that he had no good opinion of the 
Christians, as appears from his own words.* But he knew 
nothing of them except their hostility to the Roman relig- 
ion, and he probably tliought that they were dangerous to 
the state, notwithstanding the professions false or true of 
some of the Apologists. So much I have said, because it 
would be unfair not to state all that can be urged against 
a man whom his contemporaries and subsequent ages ven- 

• See XI. 3. The emperor probably speaks of such fanatics as 
Clemens (quoted by Gataker on tliis passage) mentions. The 
rational Christians admitted no fellowship with them. " Some of 
these heretics, says Clemens, " show their impiety and cowardice 
by loving their lives, saying that the knowledge of the really ex- 
isting God is true testimony (martyrdom), but that a man is a 
self-murderer who bears witness by his death. We also blame 
those who rush to death, for there are some, not of us, but only 
bearing the same name who give themselves up. We say of them 
that they die without being niiirtyrs, even if they are publicly 
punished; and they give themselves uji to a death which avails 
nothing, as the hidian Gynmosophists give themselves up foolish- 
]}■ to fire." Cave in his Primitive Christianity (ii. c. 7) says of 
the Christians : " They did flock to the place of torment faster 
than droves of beasts that are driven to the shambles- They even 
ionged to be in the arms of suffering. Ignatius, though then in 
his journey to Rome in order to his execution, yet by the way aa 
he went could not but vent his passionate desire of it : O that I 
might come to those wild beasts, that are prepared for me ; I 
heartily wish that I may presently meet with them ; I would invite 
and encourage tliem speedily to devour me, and not be afraid to 
set upon me as they have been to others ; nay, should they refuse 
it. I would even force them to it; and more to the same purpose 
i.«oni Eusebius. Cave, an honest and good man, says all this in 
prf.ise of the Christians: but I think that he mistook the matter. 
We admire a man who holds to his principles even to death ; but 
these fanatical Christians ar<a the Gynmosophists whom Clemeiw 
treats with disdain. 



16 BIOGBAPHICAL SKETCH. 

crated as a model of virtue and benevolence. If I admlttecl 
the genuineness of some documents, he would be altogether 
clear from the charge of even allowing any persecutions ; 
but as I seelc the truth and am sure that they are false, I 
leave him to bear whatever blame is his due. I add that it 
is quite certain that Antoninus did not derive any of his 
Ethical principles from a religion of which he knew 
nothing* 

There is no doubt that the Emperor's Keflections or hii 
Meditations, as they are generally named, is a genuine work. 
In his first book he speaks of himself, his family, and his 
teachers ; and in other books he mentions himself. Suidaa 
notices a work of Antoninus in twelve books, which he 
names the " conduct of his own life; " and he cites the book 
under several words in his Dictionary, giving the emperor's 
name, but not the title of the work. There are also pas- 
sages cited by Suidas from Antoninus without mention of 
the emperor's name. The true title of the workis unknown. 
Xy lander who published the first edition of this book (Zurich, 
1558, 8vo., with a Latin version) used a manuscript, which 
contained the twelve books, but it i s not known where the 
manuscript is now. The only other complete manuscript 
which is known to exist is in the Vatican library, but it has 
no title and no inscriptions of the several books : the eleventh 
only has the inscription MdpKov avroKpdTopos marked with an 
asterisk. The other Vatican manuscripts and the three 
Florentine contain only excerpts from the emperer's book. 
All the titles of the excerpts nearly agree with that which 
Xylander prefixed to his editionv MdpKou 'Avrudvov AiiroKpd- 
ropoi Tuv ds iavrbv ^i^Xla tj3. This title has been used 
by all subsequent editors. We cannot tell whether Anto. 
ninus divided his work into books or somebody else did it. 
If the inscriptions at the end of the first and second books 
are genuine, he may have made the division himself. 

It is plain that the emperor wrote down his thoughts or 
reflections as the occasions arose; and since they were intend- 
ed for his own use, it is no improbable conjecture that he 
left a complete copy behind him written with his own hand ; 
for it is not likely that so diligent a man would use the labor 
of a transcriber for such a purpose, and expose his most 
secret thoughts to any other eye. He may have also intend- 
ed the book for his son Commodus, who however had no 
taste for his father's philosophy. Some careful hand pre- 
served the precious volume ; and a work by Antoninus, i^ 
mentioned by other late writers besides Suidas. ; 

Many critics have labored on the text of Antoninus. The 
most complete edition is that by Thomas Gataker, 1652, 4to. 
The second edition of Gataker was superintended by George 
Stanhope, 1697, 4to. There is also an edition of 1704. 
Gataker made and suggested many good corrections, and he 
also made a new Latin version, which is not a very good 

•Dr. F. C. BaiTrin his work entitled Das Christenthum und die 
Christliche Kirclie der drei ersten Jalirhunderte, etc. has exam- 
ined this question with great good sense and fairness, and I be- 
lieve he has stated the truth as wear as our authorities enable ua 
to reach it 



M. AUEELIUS ANTONI^'US. 17 

specimen of Latin, but it generally expresses the sense of 
the original and often better than some of the more re- 
cent translations. He added in the margin opposite to each 
paragraph references to the other parallel passages ; and he 
wrote a commentary, one of the most complete that has 
been written on any ancient author. This commentary 
contains the editor's exposition of the more difficult pas- 
sages, and quotations from all the Greek andEoman writers 
for the illustration of the text. It is a wonderful monument 
of learning and labor, and certainly no Englishman has yet 
done anything like it. At the end of his preface the editor 
Bays that he wrote it at Eotherhithe near London in a severe 
M'inter, when he was in the seventy-eighth year of his age, 
1651, a time when Milton, Selden and other great men of 
the Commonwealth time were living; and the great French 
scholar Saumaise (Salmasius), with whom Gataker corre- 
sponded and received help from him for his edition of Anto- 
ninus. The Greek text has also been edited by J. M. 
Schultz, Leipzig, 1802, 8vo; and by the learned Greek Ada- 
mantius Corals, Paris, 1816, 8vo. The text of Schultz was 
republished by Tauchnitz, 1821. 

There are English, French, Italian and Spanish transla- 
tions of M. Antoninus, and there may be others. I have 
not seen all the English translations. There is one by 
Jeremy Collier, 1702, 8vo, a most coarse and vulgar copy of 
the original. The latest French translation by Alexis Pier- 
ron in the collection of Charpentier is better than Dacier's, 
which has been honored with an Italian version (Udine, 
1772). There is an Italian version (1675) which I have not 
seen. It is by a cardinal. " A man illustrious in the 
church, the Cardinal Francis Barberini the elder, nephew 
of Pope Urban VLII, occupied the last years of his life in 
translating into his native language the thoughts of the 
Roman emperor, in order to diffuse among the ffiithful the 
fertilizing and vivifying seeds. He dedicated this transla- 
tion to his soul, to make it, as he says in his energetic style, 
redder than his purple at the sight of the virtues of this 
Gentile " (Pierron, Preface). I have made this translation 
at intervals after having used the book for many years. It 
is made from the Greek, but I have not always followed one 
text, I have occasionally compared other versions. I made 
this translation for my own use, because I found that it wsls 
worth the labor. It may be useful to others also and at last 
I have determined to print it, though, as the original is both 
very difficult to understand and still more difficult to trans- 
late, it is not possible that I have always avoided error. 
But I belie\»e that I have not often missed the meaning, and 
those who will take the trouble to compare the translation 
with the original should not hastily conclude that I am 
wrong, if they do not agree with me. Some passages do 
give the meaning, though at first sight they may not appeaj 
to do so; and when I differ from the translators, I thini 
that in some places they are wrong, and in other places \ 
am sure that they are. I have placed a t in some passages, 
which indicates corruption in the text or great uncertainty 
in the meaning. I could have mr.de the language more easy 
And flowing, but I have preferred a somewhat ruder style aai 



n BlOGllAPiIICAL SKETCH. 

being better suited to express the character of the original; 
and sometimes the obscurity which may appear in the ver- 
sion is a fair copy of the obscurity of the Greek. If I should 
ever revise this version, I would gladly make use of any cor- 
rections which may be suggested. In the text I have alwaya 
i^iven the same translation of the same word. 

The last reflection of the Stoic philosophy that I have ob- 
served is in Simplicius' Commentary on the Enchiridion ol 
Epictetus. Simplicius was not a Christian, and such a man 
ft'as not likely to be converted at a time when Christianity 
was grossly corrupted. But he was a really religious man, 
and he concludes his commentary with a prayer to the Deity 
which no Christian could improve. From the time of Zeno 
to Simplicius, a period of about nine hundred years, the 
Stoic philosophy formed the characters of some of the best 
and greatest men. Finally it became extinct, and we hear 
no more of it till the revival of letters in Italy. Angelo Po- 
liziano met with two very inaccurate and incomplete manu- 
scripts of Epictetus' Enchiridion, which he translated into 
Latin and dedicated to his great patron Lorenzo de' Medici 
in whose collection he had found the book. Poliziano'8 
version was printed in the first Bale edition of the Enchiri* 
dion, A.D. 1531 (apud And. Cratandrum). Poliziano recom- 
mends the Enchiridion to Lorenzo as a work well suited to 
his temper, and useful in the difl&culties by which he waa 
surrounded. 

Epictetus and Antoninus have had readers ever since they 
were first printed. The little book of Antoninus has been 
the companion of some great men. Machiavelli's Art of 
War and Marcus Antoninus were the two books which were 
used when he was a young man by Captain John Smith, 
and he could not have found two writers better fitted to 
form the character of a soldier and a man. Smith is almost 
unknown ar d forgotten in England his native country, but 
not in Amer ca where he saved the young colony of Virginia. 
He was gres t in his heroic mind and his deeds in arms, but 
greater still n the nobleness of his character. For a man's 
greatness lie 3 not in wealth and station, as the vulgar believe, 
hor yet in h:'3 intellectual capacity, which is often associated 
with the me mest moral character, the most abject servility 
to those in 1 igh places and arrogance to the poor and lowly; 
but a man'? true greatness lies in the consciousness of an 
honest purp 3se in life, founded on a just estimate of him- 
self and eve ything else, on frequent self-examination, and 
a steady obt dience to the rule which he knows to be right, 
without troubling himself, as the emperor says he should 
not, about -(/hat others may think or say, or whether they 
do or do not do that which he thinks and says and does. 



THE 

PHILOSOPHY OF ANTOND US- 

It has been said that the Stoic philosophy first showed its 
feal value when it passed from Greece to liome. The 
doctrines of Zeno and his successors were well suited to tlie 
gravity and practical good sense .of the Romans; and even 
in the Republican period we have an example of a man, M. 
Cato Uticensis, who lived the life of a Stoic and died con- 
sistently with the opinions which he professed. He was a 
man, says Cicero, who embraced the Stoic philosophy from 
conviction; not for the purpose of vain discussion, as most 
did, but in order to make his life conformable to its precepts. 
In the wretched times from the death of Augustus to the 
murder of Domitian, there was nothing but the Stoic phil- 
osophy which could console and support the followers of 
the old religion under imperial tyranny and amidst universal 
corruption. There were even then noble minds that could 
dare and endure, sustained by a good conscience and an 
elevated idea of the purposes of man's existence. Such 
were Paetus Thrasea, Helvidius Priscus, Cornutus, C. 
Musonius Rufus,* and the poets Persius and Juvenal, whose 
energetic language and manly thoughts may be as instruc- 
tive to us now as they might have been to their contem- 
poraries. Persius died under Nero's bloody reign, but 
Juvenal had the good fortune to survive the tyrant Domitian 
and to see the better times of Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian. 
His best precepts are derived from the Stoic school, and 
they are enforced in his finest verses by the unrivalled vigoj 
of the Latin language. 

The two best expounders of the later Stoical philosoph} 
were a Greek slave and a Roman emperor. Epictetus, s 
Phrygian Greek, was brought to Rome, we know not how. 
but he was there the slave and afterwards the freedman o< 
an unworthy master, Epaphroditus by name, himself a freed 
man and a favorite of Nero. Epictetus may have been t 
hearer of C. Musonms Rufus, while he was still a slave 
but he can hardly have been a teacher before he was madf 
free. He was one of the philosophers whom Domitiaii'4 
order banished from Rome. He retired to Nicopolis in 
Epirus, and he may have died there. Like other greal 
teachers he wrote nothing, and we are indebted to his grate- 
ful pupil Arrian for what we have of Epictetus' discourses, 
Arrian wrote eight books of the discourses of Epictetus, oi 

* I have omitted Seneca, Nero's preceptor. He was in a sens* 
a Stoic and he has said many good things in a very fine way. 
There is a judgment of Gellins (xii. 2) on Seneca, or rather a state. 
mentof what some people thought of liis philosophy, and it is nut 
favorable. His writings and his life nnist be taken together, and 
I have notUiug more to say of him here. 



20 THE PMiLOsopnr 

which only four remain and some fragments. We have also 
from Arrian's hand the small Enchiridion or Manual of the 
chief precepts of Epictetus. There is a valuable commen- 
tary on the Enchiridion by Simplicius, who lived in the 
time of the emperor Justinian.* 

Antoninus in his fii-st book (I. 7), in which he gratefully 
commemorates his obligations to his teachers, says that he 
Was made acquainted by Junius Rusticus with the dis- 
courses of Epictetus, whom he mentions also in other pas- 
sages (iv. 41; XI. 33. 36). Indeed, the doctrines of Epicte- 
tus and Antoninus are the same, and Epictetus is the best 
authority for the explanation of the philosophical language 
of Antoninus and the exposition of his opinions. But the 
method of the two philosophers is entirely different. Epic- 
tetus addressed himself to his hearers in a continuous dis- 
course aud in a familiar and simple manner. Antoninus 
wrote doi/n his reflections for his own use only, in short un- 
connected paragraphs, which are often obscure. 

The Stoics made three divisions of philosophy, Physic, 
Ethic and Logic. This division, we are told by Diogenes, 
was made by Zeno of Citium, the founder of the Stoic sect 
and by Chrysippus; but these philosophers placed the three 
divisions in the following order. Logic, Physic, Ethic. It 
appeR,rs however that this division was made before Zeno's 
time and acknowledged by Plato, as Cicero remarks (Acad. 
Post. I. 5). Logic is not synonymous with our term Logic 
in th3 narrower sense of that word. 

Cleanthes, a Stoic, subdivided the three divisions, and 
made six: Dialectic and Ehetoric, comprised in Logic; 
Ethic and Politic; Physic and Theology. This division 
was merely for practical use, for all Philosophy is one. Even 
among the earliest Stoics Logic or Dialectic does not occupy 
the same place as in Plato: it is considered only as ah in- 
strument which is to be used for the other divisions of 
Philosophy. An exposition of the earlier Stoic doctrines 
and of their modifications would require a volume. My ob- 
ject is tc explain only the opinions of Antoninus, so far as 
they can be collected from his book. 

According to the subdivision of Cleanthes, Physic and 
Theology go together, or the study of the nature of Things, 
and th(j study of the nature of the Deity, so far as man can 
\inderstand the Deity, and of his government of the uni- 
verse. This division or subdivision is not formally adopted 
by Antoninus, for as already observed, there is no method 
in his \)ook; but it is virtually contained in it. 

Cleanthes also connects Ethic and Politic, or the study of 
the principles of morals and the study of the constitution 
of ci'/il society; and undoubtedly he did well in subdividing 
Ethic into two parts. Ethic in the narrower sense and Poli- 
tic, ioi though the two are intimately connected, they are 
also very disMnct, and many questions can only be properly 
discussed by carefully observing the distinction. Antoninus 

* There is a complete edition of Arrian's Epictetus with the com- 
mentary of Simplicius by J. Schweighaueser, 6 vols. 8vo. 1799, 
1800. There is also an English translation of Epictetus by Mrs. 
Carter. 



does not treat of Politic. His subject is Ethic, and Ethic 
in its practical application to his own conduct in life as a man 
and as a governor. His Ethic is founded on his doctrines 
about man's nature. The Universal Nature and the relation of 
every man to everything else. It is therefore intimately and 
inseparably connected with Physic or the nature of Things 
and with Theology or the nature of the Deity. He advises 
us to examine well all the impressions on our minds and to 
form a right judgment of them, to make just conclusions, 
and to inquire into the meanings of words, and so far to 
apply Dialectic, but he has no attempt at any exposition of 
Dialectic, and his philosophy is in substance purely moral 
and practical. He says (viii. 13), " Constantly and, if it be 
possible, on the occasion of every impression on the soul, 
apply to it the principles of Physic, of Moral and of Dialec- 
tic:" which is only another way of telling us to examine 
the impression in every possible way. In another passage 
(ill. 11) he says, "To the aids which have been mentioned 
let this one still be added: make;<'or thyself a definition or 
description of the object which is presented to thee, so as 
to see distinctly what kind of a thing it is in its substance, 
in its nudity, in its complete entirety, and tell tliyself its 
p^roper name, and the names of the things of which it has 
neen compounded, and into which it will be resolved." 
.Such an examination implies a use of Dialectic, which An- 
toninus accordingly employed as a means towards estab- 
lishing his Physical, Theological and Ethical principles. 

There are several expositions of the Physical, Theological, 
and Ethical principles, which are contained in the work of 
Antoninus; and more expositions than I have read. Eitter 
(Geschichte der Philosophic, iv. 241) after explaining the 
doctrines of Epictetus, treats very briefly and insufficiently 
those of Antoninus* But he refers to a short essay, in 
which the work is done better.* There is also an essay on 
the Philosophical Principles of M. Aurelius Antoninus by 
Ji M. Schultz, placed at the end of his German translation 
of Antoninus (Schleswig, 1799). With the assistance ■ of 
these two useful essays and his own diligent study a man 
may form a sufficient notion of the principles of Antoninus; 
^ut.he will find it more difficult to expound them to others. 
Jiesides the want of arrangement in the original and of con- 
nection among the numerous paragraphs, the corruption of 
the text, the obscurity of the language and the style, and 
sometimes perhaps the confusion in. the writer's own ideas, 
— besides all this there is occasionally an apparent contra- 
diction in the emperor's thoughts, as if his principles were 
sometimes unsettled, as if doubt sometimes clouded his 
mind. A man who leads a life of tranquillity and reflection, 
^yho is not disturbed at home and meddles not with the 
affairs of the world, may keep his mind at ease and his 
thoughts in one even course. But such a man has not been 
tried. All his Ethical philosophy and his passive virtue 
might turn out to be idle words, if he were once exposed to 
the rude realities of human existence. Eine thoughts and 

* De Marco Aurelio Antoninus ... ex opsius Commentariis. 
Scriptio Philologica. Instituit Nicolaus Bachius, Lipsiae, 1826. 



22 TRE PHILOSOPB 

moral dissertations from men who have not worked and stt 
fered may be lead, but they will be forgotten. No religion, 
no Ethical philosophy is Worth anything, if the teacher has 
not lived the " life of an apostle," and been ready to die 
"the death of a martyr." "Not in passivity (the passive 
affects) but in activity lie the evil and the good of the ra- 
tional social animal, just as his virtue and his vice lie not 
in passivity, but in activity " (xi. 16). The emperor Anto- 
ninus was a practical moralist. From his youth he followM 
a laborious discipline, and though his high station placed 
him above all want or the fear of it, he lived as frugally and 
temperately as the poorest philosopher. Epictetus wanted 
Httle, and it seems that he always had the little that he 
wanted; and he was content with it, as he had been wilh 
his servile station. But Antoninus after his accession to 
the empire sat on an uneasy seat. He had the administra- 
tion of an empire which extended from the Euphrates to the 
/Atlantic, from the cold mountains of Scotland to the hot 
jands of Africa; and we 'uay imagine, though we cannot 
know it by experience, what must be the trials, the troubles, 
the anxiety and the sorrows of him who has the world's 
business on his hands with the wish to do the best that he 
can, and the certain knowledge that he can do very little of. 
the good which he wishes. 

In the midst of war, pestilence, conspiracy, general cor- 
ruption and with the weight of soiinweildy an empire 
upon him, we may easily comprehend that Antoninus often 
had need of all his fortitude to support him. The best and 
the bravest men have moments of doubt and of weakness, 
but if they are the best and the bravest, they rise again f roia 
their depression by recurring to first principles, as Antoni- 
nus does. The emperor says that life is smoke, a vapor, 
and St. James in his Epistle is of the same mind ; that the 
world is full of envious, jealous, malignant people, and a 
man might be well content to get out of it. He has doubts 
perhaps sometimes even about that to which he holds most 
firmly. There are only a few passages of this kind, but 
they are evidence of the struggles which even the noblest of 
the sons of men had to maintain against the hard realities 
of his daily life. A poor remark it is which I have seen 
somewhere, and made in a disparaging way, that the em- 
peror's reflections show that he had need of consolation and 
comfort in life, and even to prepare him to meet his death. 
True that he did need comfort and support, and we see how 
he found it. He constantly recurs to his fundamental prin- 
ciple that the universe is wisely ordered, that every man is 
a part of it and must conform to that order which he can- 
not change, that whatever the Deity has done is good, that 
all mankind are a man's brethren, that he must love and 
cherish them and try to make them better, even those who 
would do him harm. This is his conclusion (ii. 17) : " What 
then is that which is able to conduct a man ? One thing 
and only one. Philosophy. But this consists in keeping 
the divinity within a man free from violence and unharmed, 
superior to pains and pleasures, doing nothing without a 
purpose nor yet falsely and with hypocrisy, not feeling the 
need of another man's doing or uot doing anything; aud Iw* 



OF AH^TONINUS. 23 

sides, accepting all that happens and all that is allotted as 
coming from tlience, wherever it is, from wlience he himself 
came; and finally waiting for death with a cheerful mind as 
being nothing else than a dissolution of the elements, of 
wliich every living being is compounded. But if there is no 
Itarm to the elements themselves in each continually chang- 
ing into another, why should a man have any apprehension 
a,bout the change and dissolution of all the elements [him- 
self] ? for it is according to nature; and nothing is evil that 
is according to nature." 

The Physic of Antoninus is the knowledge of the Nature 
of the Universe, of its government, and of the relation of 
roan's nature to both. He names the universe "the uni- 
^wrsal substance," and he adds that " reason," governs tha 
mtiverse. He also (vi. 9) uses the terms " universal nature" 
or " nature of the universe." He ( vr. 25) calls the universe 
*' the one and all, which we name Cosmus or Order." If 
he ever seems to use these general terms as significant of the- 
All, of all that man can in any way conceive to exist, he stili 
cm other occasions plainly distinguishes between Matter;,, 
Material things and Cause, Origin, Eeason.* This is con- 
torinable to Zeno's doctrine that there are two original prin- 
ciples of all things, that which acts and that which is acted 
upon. That which is acted on is the formless matter ; that 
which acts is the reason in it, God, for he is eternal and op- 
erates through all matter, and produces all things. So 
Antoninus (v. 32) speaks of the reason which pervades all 
substance, and through all time by fixed periods (revolu> 
tions) adnunisters the universe. God is eternal, and Matter 
Is eternal. It is God who gives to matter its form, but Hft 
13 not said to have created matter. According to this vieWj 
which is as old as Anaxagoras, God and matter exist inde. 
pendently, but God governs matter. This doctrine is simply 
the expression of the fact of the existence both of matter 
and of God. The Stoics did not perplex themselves with the 
insoluble question of the origin and nature of matter.t Au- 

* I remark, in order to anticipate any misapprehension, that all 
these general terms involve a contradiction. Tiie " one and all," 
and the like, and " the whole," imply limitation. " One" is lim- 
ited; " all " is limited ; the " whole " Ls limited. We cannot help 
it. We cannot find words to express that which we cannot fully 
conceive. The addition of "absolute" or any other such word 
does not meud the matter. Even God is used by most people, 
often uncouscioosly, in such a way that limitation is implied, and 
yet at the same time words are added which are intended to deny 
liiuitatiou. A Christian martyr, when he was asked what God 
w;i8, is said to have answered that God has no name like a man ; 
and Justin says the same (Apol. ii. 6). We can conceive the ex- 
istence of a thing, or rather we may have the idea of an existence, 
without an adequate notion of it. "adequate" meaning coexten- 
Bive and coequal with the thing. We nave a notion of Umited 
»pace derived from the dimensions of what we call a material 
thing, though of space absolute, if I may use the term, we have no 
uotion at all; and yet we conceive it in a sense, though I know 
not how, and we beheve that space is infinite, and we cannot con- 
ceive it to be finite. 

t The notions of matter and of space are inseparable. We de- 
xive the aotioa gf sj)ftce Uom matter a»d form. Bui we have m 



'24 THE PHiLosopnr 

toninus also assumes a beginning of things, as we now 
know them; but his language is sometimes very obscure. I 
have endeavored to explain the meaning of one difficult pas- 
sage, (vii. 75, and the note.) 

Matter consists of elemental parts of which all material 
objects are made. But nothing is permanent inform. The 
nature of the universe, according to Antoninus' expression 
(iv. 36), "loves nothing so much as to change the things 
which are, and to make new things like them. For every- 
thing that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will 
be. But thou art thinking only of seeds which are cast into 
the earth or into a womb: but this is a very vulgar notion." 
All things then are in a constant flux and change : some 
things are dissolved into the elements, others come in their 
places; and so the " whole universe continues ever young 
and perfect." (xir. 23.) 

Antoninus has some obscure expressions about what he 
calls " seminaJ principles." He opposes them to the Epi- 
curean atoms (vi. 24), and consequently his "seminal prin- 
ciples" are not material atoms which wander about at haz- 
ard, and combine nobody knows how. In one passage (iv. 
21) he speaks of living principles, souls after the dissolution 
of their bodies being received into the " seminal principle of 
the universe." Schultz thinks that by "seminal principles 
Antoninus means the relations of the various elemental 
principles, which relations are determined by the Deity and 
by which alone the production of organized beings is pos- 
sible." This may be the meaning, but if it is, nothing of any 
value can be derived from it.* Antoninus often uses tlie 
word " Nature," and we must attempt to fix its meaning. 
The simple etymological sense of <pij(nsis " production," the 
birth of what we call Things. The Komans used Natura, 
which also means " birth " originally. But neither the 
Greeks nor the Romans stuck to this simple meaning, nor 
do we. Antoninus says (x. 6): "Whether the universe is 
[a concourse of] atoms or Nature [is a system], let this first 
be established that I am a part of the whole which is gov- 
erned by nature." Here it might seem as if nature were 
personified and viewed as an active, efficient power, as some- 
thing which, if not independent of the Deity, acts by a 

adequate conception either of matter or of space- Matterin its 
ultimate resolution is as unintelligible as what men call miud, 
spirit, or by whatever other name they may express the power 
which makes itself known by its acts. Anaxagoras laid down 
the distinction between intelligence and matter, and he said tlmt 
iutelligeuce impressed motion on matter and so separated the ele 
ments of matter and gave them order; but he probably only pp- 
sumed a beginning, as SimpUcius says, as a foundation of lii;. 
philosophical teaching. . 

The common Greek word which we translate " matter "is SXr/. 
It is the stuff that things are made of. 

* Justin (Apol. n. 8.) has the expression Karci (nrep/xariKod Myov 
^e^os, where he is speaking of the Stoics. The early Christian 
writers were familiar with the Stoic terms, and their writings 
show that the contest was begun between the Christian expositors 
and the Greek philosophy. Even in the second Epistle of St. 
Peter (u. 1, v. 4) we find a Stoic expressiou^trajSwi To(rrwvy4vr]<Td« 
Selas Kotvuvoi ipiiaeust 



OF ANT02nii US. . 25 

power which is given to It by the Deity. Such, if I under- 
stand the expression right, is the way in which the word 
Nature is often used now, tliough it is plain that many 
writers use the word without fixing any exact meaning to it. 
It is the same with the expression Laws of Nature, wliich 
some writers may use in an intelligible sense, but otliers as 
clearly use in no definite sense at all. There is no meaning 
in this word nature, except that which Bishop Butler as- 
signs to it, when he says, "The only distinct meaning of 
hat word Natural is Stated, Fixed or Settled ; since what is 
1. "ural as much requires and presupposes an intelligent 
ag ^t to render it so, i. e. to effect it continually or at stated 
tim ■, as what is supernatural or miraculous does to effect 
it at mce." This is Plato's meaning (De Leg. iv.), when 
he says, tbat God holds the beginning and end and middle of 
all that exists, and proceeds straight on his course, making 
his circuit according to nature (that is, by a fixed order) ; 
and he is continually accompanied by justice who punishes 
those who deviate from the divine law, that is, from the 
order or course which God observes. 

When we look at the motions of the planets, the action 
of what we call gravitation, the elemental combination of 
unorganized bodies and their resolution, the production of 
plants and of living bodies, their generation, growth, and 
their dissolution, which we call their death, we observe a 
regular sequence of phenomena, which within the limits of ^ 
experience present and past, so far as we know the past, is' 
fixed and invariable. But if this is not so, if the order and 
sequence of phenomena, as known to us, are subject to 
change in the course of an infinite progression, — and such . 
change is conceivable, — we have not discovered, nor shall we 
ever discover, the whole of the order and sequence of phe- 
nomena, in wliich sequence there may be involved according 
to its very nature, that is, according to its fixed order, some 
variation of what we now call the Order or Nature of 
Things. It is also conceivable that such changes have 
taken place, changes in the order of things, as we are com- 
pelled by the imperfection of language to call them, but 
which are no clianges; and further it is certain, that our 
knowledge of the true sequence of all actual phenonuena, 
as for instance, the phenomena of generation, growth and 
dissolution, is and ever must be imperfect. 

We do not fare much better when we speak of Causes 
and Effects than when we speak of Nature. For the prac- 
tical purposes of life we may use the terms cause and effect 
conveniently, and we may fix a distinct meaning to them, 
distinct enough at least to prevent all misunderstanding. But 
the case is different when we speak of causes and effects as 
of things. All that we know is phenomena, as the Greeks 
ealled them, or appearances which follow one another in a 
regular order, as we conceive it, so that if some one phe- 
nomenon should fail in the series, we conceive that there 
must either be an interruption of the series, or that some- 
thing else will appear after the phenomenon which has 
tailed to appear, and will occupy the vacant place; and so 
the series in its progression may be modified or totally 
changed. Cause and effect then mean nothing in the se- 



26 TSE fBlLOSOPHY 

c[uence of natural phenomena beyond what I have Said; 
and the real cause, or the transcendent cause, as some 
would call it, of each successive phenomenon is in that 
which is the cause of all things which are, which have 
been, and which will be forever. Thus the word Crea- 
tion may have a real sense if we consider it as the first, if we 
can conceive a first, in the present order of natural phe- 
nomena; but in the vulgar sense a creation of all things at a 
certain time, followed by a quiescence of the first cause and 
an abandonment of all sequences of Phenomena to the 
Laws of Nature, or to any other words that people may use, 
is absolutely absurd.* 

Now, though there Is great difiiculty in understanding all 
the passages of Antoninus, in which he speaks of nature, of 
the changes of things and of the economy of the universe, I 
am convinced that his sense of Nature and Natural is the 
same as that which I have stated ; and as he was a man who 
knew how to use words in a clear way and with strict con- 
sistency, we ought to assume, even if his meaning in some 
passages is doubtful, that his view of Nature was in har- 
mony with his fixed belief in the all-pervading, ever-present, 
and ever-active energy of God. (iv. 40; x. 1; vi. 40; and 
other passages.) 

There is much in Antoninus that is hard to understand, 
and it might be said that he did not fully comprehend all 
that he wrote; which would however be in no way remark- 
able, for it happens now that a man may write what neither 
he nor anybody can understand. Antoninus tells us 
{xii. 10) to look at things and see what they are, resolving 
them into the material, the casual and the relation, or the 
purpose, by which he seems to mean something in the 
nature of what we call effect, or end. The word cause 
( cUrla ) is the difficulty. There is the same word in the 
Sanscrit {A (tt); and the subtle philosophers of India and of 
Greece, and the less subtle philosophers of modem times 
have all used this word, or an equivalent word, in a vague 
way. Yet the confusion sometimes may be in the iiiiVJ- 
table ambiguity of language rather than in the mind of the 
WTiter, for I cannot think that some of the wisest of men 
did not know what they intended to say. When Antoninus 
says (iv. 36), " that everything that exists is in a manner 
the seed of that which will be," he might be supposed to 
say what some of the Indian philosophers have said, and 
thus a profound truth might be converted into a gross ab- 

* Time and space are the conditions of our thougnt ; but time 
infinite and space infinite cannot be objects of thought, except in 
a very imperfect way. Time and space must not in any way be 
thonght of, when we think of the Deity. Swedenborg sayj?, 
" The natural man may believe that he would have no thought, if 
the idea of time, of space, and of tilings material were taken 
away ; for upon those is founded all the thought that man has. 
But let him know that the thoughts are limited and confined in 
proportion as they partake of time, of space, and of what is roa- 
terial; and that they are not limited and are extended, in propor- 
tion as they do not partake of those things ; since tlie mind is so 
far elevated above the things corporeal aud woildly." (Conceru- 
ing Heaven and Hell, 169.) 



OF ANTONINUS 27 

BOrdity. But he says, " in a manner," and in a manner lie 
said true; and in anotiier manner, if you mistake his mean- 
ing, he said false. Wlien Plato said, " Nothing ever is, but 
is always becoming," he delivered a text, out of which we 
may derive something; for he destroys by it not all practi- 
cal, but all speculative notions of cause and effect. The 
whole series of things, as they appear to us, must be con- 
templated in time, that is in succession, and we conceive or 
suppose intervals between one state of things, and another 
state of tilings, so that there is priority and sequence, and in-- 
terval, and Being, and a ceasing to Be, and beginning and end- 
ing. But there is nothing of the kind in the Nature of Things. 
It is an everlasting continuity, (iv. 45 ; vil. 75.) When An« 
toninud speaks of generation (x. 26), he speaks of one cause 
acting, and then another cause taking up the work, which 
the former left in a certain state, and so on; and we inight 
perhaps conceive that he had some notion like wliat has 
been called "the self-evolving power of nature"; a fine 
phrase indeed, the full import of which I believe that the 
writer of it did not see, and thus he laid himself open to 
the imputation of being a follower of one of the Hindii 
sects, which makes all things come by evolution out of 
nature or matter, or out of something which takes the 
place of deity, but is not deity. I would have all men 
think as they please or as they can, and I only claim the 
same freedom, which I give. When a man writes any- 
thing, we may fairly try to find out all that his words must 
mean, even if the result is that they mean what he did not 
mean ; and if we find this contradiction, it is not onr fault, 
but his misfortune. Now Antoninus is perhaps somewhat 
in this condition in what he says (x. 26.), though he speaks 
at the end of the paragraph of the power which acts, unseeii 
by the eyes, but still no less clearly. But whether in this 
passage (x. 26) he means. that the power is conceived to be 
in the different successive causes, or in something else, no- 
body can tell. From other passages, however, I do collect 
that his notion of the phenomena of the univeise is what 
I have stated. The deity works unseen, if we may use 
sucli language, and perhaps I may, as Job did, or he who 
wrote the book of Job. " In him we live and move and 
are," said St. Paul to the Athenians, and to show his hear- 
ers that this was no new doctrine, he quoted the Greek 
poets. One of these poets was the Stoic Cleanthes whose 
noble hymn to Zeus or God is an elevated expression of 
devotion and philosophy. It deprives Nature of her power 
and puts her under the immediate government of the deity. 

" Thee all this heaven, which whirls around the earth, 
Obeys and willing lollows where thou leadest. — 
Without thee, God, nothing is done on earth, 
Nor in the sethereal realms, nor in the sea. 
Save what the wicked do through their own folly." 

Antoninus' conviction of the existence of a divine power 
l^d government was founded on his perception of the order 
of the universe. Like Socrates (Xen. Mem. iv. 3), he say* 
though we cannot see the forms of divine powers, we know, 
(bftt they exist because we see their works. 



28 THE PHILOSOPHY 

" To those who ask, Where hast thou seen the gods, or 
how dost thou comprehend that they exist and so worshipest 
them ? I answer, in the first place, that they may be seen 
even with the eyes; in the second place, neither have I seen 
my own soul and yet I honor it. Thus then with respect to 
the gods, from what I constantly experience of their power, 
from this I comprehend that they exist and I venerate them." 
(xii. 28. Comp. Xen. Mem. 1. 4, 9; St. Paul's Epistle to the 
Romans, i. 19, 20; and Montaigne's Apology for Eaimond 
de Sebonde, il. c. 12.) This is a very old argument which 
has always had great weight with most people and has ap- 
peared sufficient. It does not acquire the least additional 
strength by being developed in a learned treatise. It is as' 
intelligible in its simple enunciation as it can be mad' If 
it is rejected, there is no arguing with him who rejet it; 
and if it is worked out into innumerable particulars, ^e 
value of the evidence runs the risk of being buried und-. 
mass of words. 

Man being conscious that he is a spiritual power or an in-^. 
tellectual power, or that he has such a power, in whatever 
way he conceives that he has it — for I wish simply to state 
a fact — from this power which he has in himself, he is led, 
as Antoninus says, to believe that there is a greater power,- 
which as the old Stoics tell us, pervades the whole universe: 
as the intellect * ( vov$ ) pervades man. (Compare Epicte-; 

* I have always translated the word "oSs " intelligence 
or " intellect." It appears to be the word used by the oldest: 
Greek philosophers to express the notion of " intelligence " as ' 
oposed to the notiou of " matter." I have always translated; 
the word \&yos by "reason," and "KoyiKds by the word " ra-; 
tional," or perhaps sometimes " reasonable," as I have translated ' 
voepSi by the word " intellectual." Everyman who has thought 
and has read any philosophical writings knows the difficulty of 
finding words to express certain notions, how imperfectly words- 
express these notions, and how carelessly the words are often- 
used. The various seuses of the word \6y6s are enough to per- 
plex any man. Our translators of the New Testament (St. John,: 
c I.) have simply translated 6 \6yos by " the word," as the Ger- 
mans translatedit by "das Wort; " but in their theological writ- 
ings they sometimes retiun the original term Logos. The Ger- 
mans have a term Vernunft, which seems to come nearest to our 
word Reason, or the necessary and absolute truths which we can-, 
not conceive as being other than what they are. Such are what 
some people have called the laws of thought, the conceptions of 
space and of time, and axioms or first principles, which need no 
proof and cannot be proved or denied. Accordingly the Germans 
can say " Gott istdie hochste Vernunft," the Supreme Reason. 
The Germans have also a word Verstand, which seems to repr 
resent our word "understanding," ''intelligence," "intellect,''^ 
not as a thing absolute which exists by itself, but as a thing con 
nected with an individual being, as a man. Accordingly it is the 
capacity of receiving impressions (Vorstellungen, ■^avraffiou. ), 
and forming from them distinct ideas, (Begriffe), and perceiving 
differences. I do not think that these remarks will help the 
reader to the understanding of Antoninus, or his use of the words 
vbn$ and \6-)os. The Emperor's meaning must be got from his 
pwn words, and if it does not agree altogether with modern no- 
tions, it is not our business to force it into agreement, but simply 
to find out what his meaning is, if we can, . .^ ,, 



OF ANTONINUS. 29 

tus* Discourses, I. 14; and Voltaire i Madame Neckcr, vol. 
Lxvii. p. 278.) 

God exists then, but what do we know of his Nature ? An- 
toninus says that the soul of man is an efflux from the 
divinity. We have bodies like animals, but we have reason, 
intelligence as the gods. Animals have life and what we 
call instincts or natural principles of action; but the rational 
animal man alone has a rational, intelligent soul. An- 
toninus insists on this continually ; God is in man, * and so 
we must constantly attend to the divinity within us, for it 
is only in this way that we can have any knowledge of the 
nature of God. The human soul is in a sense a portion of 
the divinity, and the soul alone has any communication 
with the Deity, for as he says (xii. 2): "With his intel- 
lectual part alone God touches the intelligence only which 
has flowed and been derived from himself into these bodies." 
In fact he says that which is hidden within a man is life, 
that is the man himself. All the rest is vesture, covering, 
organs, instrument, which the living man, the real t man, 
uses for the purposes of his present existence. The air is 
universally diffused for hira who is able to respire, and so 
for him who is willing to partake of it the intelligent power 
which holds within it all things is diffused as wide and free 
as the air. (viii. 54. ) It is by living a divine life that man 
approaches to a knowledge of the divinity .J It is by 

• Comp. Ep. to the Corinthians, I. 3. 17. 

t This is also Swedenborg's doctrine of the soul. " As to what 
concerns the soul, of which it is said that it shall live after death. 
It is nothing else but the man himself, who lives in the body, that 
Isi the interior man, who by the body acts in the world and from 
whom the body itself lives " (qaoted by CHssold . p. 456 of " The 
Practical Nature of the Theological Writings of Emanuel Sweden- 
borg, in a letter to the Archbishop of Dublin," second edition, 
1859; a book which theologians might read with profit). This is 
an old doctrine of the soul, which has been often proclaimed, but 
never better expressed than by the " Auctor de Mundo." c. 6, 
quoted by Gataker in his " Antoninus," p. 436. "The soul by 
which we live and have cities and houses is invisible, but it is 
Been by its works; for the whole method of life has been devised 
by it and ordered, and by it is held together. In like manner we 
must think also about the Deity who in power is most mighty, 
iu beauty must comely, in life immortal, and in virtue supreme: 
wherefore though he is i^^visible to human nature, he is seen by 
his very works." Other passages to the same purpose are quoted 
by Gataker, (p. 382.) Bishop Butler has the same as to the soul: 
" Upon the whole then our organs of sense and our limbs are cer- 
tainly instruments, which the living persons, ourselves, make use 
of to perceive and move with." If this is not plain enough, he 
also says : " It follows that our organized bodies are no more our- 
selves, a part of ourselves, than any other matter around us." 
(Compare Anton, x. 38.) 

t The reader may consult Discourse V. '' Of the existence and 
nature of God," in John Smith's " Select Discourses." He has 
prefixed as a text to this Discourse, the striking passage of 
Agapetus, Paraenes- § 3 : " He who knows himself will know God ; 
and he who knows God will be made like to God; and he will be 
made like to God, who has become worthy of God ; and he becomes 
worthy of God, who does nothing unworthy of God, but thinks 
the things that are his, and speaks what he thinks, and does what 



so THE PHILOSOPHY 

following the divinity within, that man comes nearest to the 
Deity, the supreme good, for man can never attain to per- 
fect agreeE:ient with his internal guide. " Live with the 
gods. And he does live witli \;he gods who constantly 
shows to them that his own soul is satisfied with that which 
is assigned to him, and that it does all the daemon wishes, 
which Zeus hath given to every man for his guardian and 
guide, a portion of himself. And this daemon is every man' s 
understanding and reason." (v. 27.) 

There is in man, that is in the reason, the intelligence, a 
superior faculty which if it is exercised rules all the rest. 
This is the ruling faculty which Cicero (DeNatura Deorum, 
II. 11) renders by the Latin word Principatus, " to which 
nothing can or ought to be superior." Antoninus often 
uses this term, and others which are equivalent. He namea 
it (vii. 64) " the governing intelligence." The governing 
faculty is the master of the soul. (v. 26.) A man must rev- 
erance only his ruling faculty and the divinity within him. 
As we must reverence that which is supreme in the universe, 
so we must reverence that which is supreme in ourselves, and 
this is that which is of like kind with that which is supreme 
in the universe, (v. 21.) So, as Plotiuus says, the soul of 
man can only know the divine, so far as it knows itself. In 
one passage (xi. 19) Antoninus speaks of a man's condem- 
nation of himself, when the diviner part within him has 
been overpowered and yields to the less honorable and to the 
perishable part, the body, and its gross pleasures. In a 
word, the views of Antoninus on this matter, however his 
expressions may vary, are exactly what Bishop Butler ex- 
presses, when he speaks of " the natural supremacy of re- 
flection or conscience," of the faculty "which surveys, ap- 
proves or disapproves the several affections of our mind and 
actions of our lives." 

Much matter might be collected from Antoninus on the- 
notion of the Universe being one animated Being. But all 
that he says amounts to no more, as Schultz remarks, than 
this: the soul of man is most intimately united to his body 
and together they make one animal, which we call man; so 
the Deity is most intimately united to the world or the 
material universe, and together they form one whole. But 
Antoninus did not view God and the material universe as 
the same, any more than he viewed the body and soul of 
man as one. Antoninus has no speculations on the absolute 
nature of the Deity. It was not his fashion to waste his 
time on what man cannot understand. He wus satisfied 
that God exists, that he governs all things, that man can 
only have an imperfect knowledge of his nature, and he 
must attain this imperfect knowledge by reverencing the 
divinity which is within him, and keeping it pure. 

From all that has been said it follows that the imiverse is 
administered by the Providence of God and that all things 
are wisely ordered. There are passages in which Antoninus 
expresses doubts, or states different possible theories of the. 

he speaks." I suppose that the old saying, " Know thyself/' 
which is attributed to Socrates and others, had a larger meaning 
than the narrow sense which is generally given to it. - 



OF ANTOmNVS. 31 

constitution and government of tlie Universe, but he always 
recurs to his fundamental principle, that if we admit th« 
existence of a Deity, we must also admit that he orders all 
things wisely and well. (iv. 27; Vi. 1; ix. 28; xii. 5, and 
many other passages.) Epictetus says (1. 6) that we can 
discern the providence which rules the world, if we possess 
two things, the power of seeing all that happens with respect 
to each thing, and a grateful disposition. 

But if all things are wisely ordered, how is the world so 
fall of what we call evil, physical and moral ? If instead 
of saying that there is evil in the world, we use the expres- 
sion which Ihave used, " what we call evil," wehave partly 
anticipated the Emperor's answer. We see and feci and 
know imperfectly very few things in the few jears that we 
live, and all the knowledge and all the experience of all 
the human race is positive ignorance of the T7hole, which 
is infinite. Now as our reason teaches us that everything is 
in some way related to and connected w ith every other thing 
all notion of evil as being in the universe of things is a con- 
tradiction, for if the whole comes from and is governed by 
an intelligent being, it is impossible to conceive anything in 
it which tends to the evil or destruction, of the vhole. (viii. 
55; X. 6.) Everything is in constant mu^atior , and yet the 
whole subsists. We might imagine the solar system re- 
solved into its elemental parts, and yet the 'Thole would still 
subsist "ever young and perfect." 

All things, all forms, are dissolved and new forms appear. 
All living things imdergo the change Which we call death. 
If we call death an evil, then all change is an avil. Living 
beings also suffer pain, and man suffers most oi all, for he 
suffers both in and by his body and by his intelligent part. 
Men suffer also from one another^ and perhai)s the largest 
part of human suffering comes to man from th ")se whom he 
calls his brothers. Antoninus says (viii. 55), "Generally, 
wickedness does no harm at all to the universe; and partic- 
ularly, the wickedness (of one man) does no harm to an- 
other. It is only harmful to him who has it n his power 
to be released from it, as soon as he shall choose." The 
first part of this is perfectly consistent with the doctrine 
that the whole can sustain no evil or harm. The second 
part must be explained by the Stoic principle Lhat there is 
no evil in anything which is not in our power. What wrong 
•we suffer from another is his evil, not ours. I ut this is an 
admission that there is evil in a sort, for he wh' > does wrong 
does evil, and if others can endure the wrong, still there is 
evil in the wrongdoer. Antoninus (xi, 18) gnes many ex- 
cellent precepts with respect to wrongs and : njuries, and 
his precepts are practical. He teaches us to b ear what we 
cannot avoid, and his lessons may be just as iseful to him 
who denies the being and the government of G od as to him 
who believes in both. There is no direct ans ver in Anto- 
ninus to the objections which may be made to the existence 
and providence of God because of the moral disorder and 
suffering which are in the world, except this answer which 
he makes in reply to the supposition that even the best men 
may. be extinguished by death. He says if it is so, we may 
be sure that if it ought to have beea otherwise, the godi 



82 Tim pmLosopiiT 

would have ordered it otherwise, (xii. 5.) His conviction 
of the wisdom which we may observe in the government of 
the world is too strong to be disturbed by any apparent 
irregularities in the order of things. That these disorders 
exist is a fact, and those who would conclude from them 
against the being and government of God conclude too 
hastily. We all admit that there is an order in the material 
world, a Nature, in the sense in which that word has been 
explained, a constitution (KaraffKevfi, ) what we call a sys- 
tem, a relation of parts to one another and a fitness of the 
whole for something. So in the constitution of plants and of 
animals there is an order, a fitness for some end. Some- 
times the order , as we conceive it, is interrupted and the 
end, as we conceive it, is not attained. The seed, the plant 
or the animal sometimes perishes before it has passed 
through all its changes and done all its uses. It is accord- 
ing to Nature, that is a fixed order, for some to perish early 
and for others to do all their uses and leave successors to 
take their place. So man has a corporeal and intellectual 
and moral constitution fit for certain uses, and on the whole 
man performs the uses, dies and leaves other men in his 
place. So society exists, and a social state is manifestly 
the Natural State of man, the state for which his Nature 
fits him; and society amidst innumerable irregularities and 
disorders still subsists ; and perhaps we may say that the 
history of the past and our present knowledge give us a rea- 
sonable hope that its disorders will diminish, and that 
order, its governing principle, may be more firmly estab- 
lished. As order then, a fixed order, we may say, subject to 
deviations real or apparent, must be admitted to exist in the 
whole Nature of things, that which we call disorder or evil 
as it seems to us, does not in any way alter the fact of 
the general constitution of things having a Nature or 
fixed order. Nobody will conclude from the existence of 
disorder that order is not the rule, for the existence of 
order both physical and moral is proved by daily experience 
and all past experience. We cannot conceive how the 
order of the universe is maintained i we cannot even con- 
ceive how our own life from day to day is continued, nor 
how we perform the simplest movements of the body, nor 
how we grow and think and act, though we know many of 
the conditions which are necessary for all these functions. 
Knowing nothing then of the unseen power which acts in 
ourselves except by what is done, we know nothing of the 
power which acts through what we call all time and all 
space ; but seeing that there is a Nature or fixed order in 
all things known to us, it is conformable to the nature of 
our minds to believe that this universal Nature has a cause 
which operates continually, and that we are totally unable 
to speculate on the reason of any of those disorders or evils 
which we perceive. This I believe is the answer which may 
be collected from all that Antoninus has said.* 

* Cleanthes says in his Hymn: 

" For all things good and bad to One thou formest 
©o that One everlasting reason governs all." , 



OF ANTONINUS. 83 

The origm of evil is an old question. Achilles tells 
Priam (Iliad, 24, 527) that Zeus has two casks, one filled 
with good things, and the other with bad, and that he gives 
to men out of each according to his pleasure ; and so we 
must be content, for we cannot alter the will of Zeus. One 
of the Greek commentators asks how must we reconcile 
this doctrine with what we find in the first book of the 
Odyssey, where the king of the gods says, Men say that evil 
comes to them from us, but they bring it on themselves 
through their own folly. The answer is plain enough even 
to the Greek commentator. The poets make both Achilles 
and Zeus speak appropriately to their several characters. 
Indeed Zeus says plainly that men do attribute their suffer- 
ings to the gods, but they do it falsely, for they are the 
cause of their own sorrows. 

Epictetus in his Enchiridion (c. 21) makes short work of 
the question of evil. He says, 'As a mark is not set up 
for the purpose of missing it, so neither does the nature of 
evil exist in the Universe." This will appear obscure 
enough to those who are not acquainted with Epictetus, but 
he always knows what he is talking about. We do not set 
up a mark in order to miss it, though we may miss it. God, 
whose existence Epictetus assumes, has not ordered all 
things so that his purpose shall fail. Whatever there may 
be of what we call evil, the nature of evil as he expresses 
it, does not exist; that is, evil is not a part of the constitu- 
tion or nature of Things. If there were a principle of evil 
in the constitution of things, evil would no longer be evil, 
as Simplicius argues, but evil would be good. Simplicius 
(c. 34, [27]) has a long and curious discourse on this text 
of Epictetus, and it is amusing and instructive. 

One passage more will conclude this matter. It contains 
all that the emperor could say (ii. 11) : " To go from among 
men, if there are gods, is not a thing to be afraid of, for the 
gods will not involve thee in evil ; but if indeed they do not 
exist, or if they have no concern about human affairs, what 
is it to me to live in a universe devoid of gods or devoid of 
providence ? But in truth they do exist, and they do care 
for human things, and they have put all the means in man's 
power to enable him not to fall into real evils. And as to 
the rest, if there was anything evil, they would have pro- 
vided for this also, that it should be altogether in a man's 
power not to fall into it. But that which does not make a 
man worse, how can it make a man's life worse ? But 
neither through ignorance, nor having the knowledge, but 
not the power to guard against or correct these things, is 
it possible 'that the nature of the Universe has overlooked 
them ; nor is it possible that it has made so great a mistake, 
either through want of power or want of skill, that good 
and evil should happen indiscriminately to the good and 
the bad. But death certainly and life, honor and dishonor, 
pain and pleasure, all these things equally happen to good 
and bad men, being things which make us neither better 
nor worse. Therefore they are neither good nor evil." 

The Ethical part of Antoninus' Philosophy follows from 
his general principles. The end of all his philosophy is to 
live conformably to Nature, both a man's.own nat ure. aod 



M THE PHILOSOPMT 

the nature of the Universe. Bishop Butler has explained 
what the Greek philosophers meant when they spoke of liv- 
ing according to oSTature, and he says that when it is ex- 
plained, as he has explained it and as they understood it, it 
is "a manner of speaking not loose and undeterminate, but 
clear and distinct, strictly just and true." To live according 
to ISTature is to live according to a man's whole nature, not 
according to a part of it, and to reverence the divinity within 
him as the governor of all his actions. "To the rational 
animal the same act is according to nature and according to 
reason." * (vii. 11.) That which is done contrary to 
reason is also an act contrary to nature, to the whole nature, 
though it is certainly conformable to some part of man's 
nature, or it could not be done. Man is made for action, not 
for idleness or pleasure. As plants and animals do the uses 
of their nature, so man must do his. (v. 1.) 

Man must also live conformably to the universal nature, 
conformably to the nature of all things of which he is one; 
and as a citizen of a political community he must direct his 
life and actions with reference to those among whom, and 
for whom, among other purposes, he lives. A man must 
not retire into solitude and cut himself off from his fellow 
men. He must be ever active to do his part in the great 
whole. All men are his kin, not only in blood, but still more 
by participating in the same intelligence and by being a por- 
tion of the same divinity. A man cannot really be injured 
by his brethren, for no act of theirs can make him bad, and 
he must not be angry with them nor hate them: " For we 
are made for co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, 
like the rows of the upper and lower teeth. To act against one 
another tlieu is contrary to nature ; and it is acting against 
one another to be vexed and to turn away." (ii. 1.) 

Further he says : " Take pleasure in one thing and rest in 
it in passing from one social act to another social act, think- 
ing of God." (vi. 7.) Again: " Love mankind. Follow 
God." (VII. .31.) It is the characteristic of a rational soul 
for a man to love his neighbor, (xi. 1.) Antoninus teaches 
in various passages the forgiveness of injuries, and we know 
that he also practised what he taught. Bishop Butler re- 
marks that " this divine precept to forgive injuries and to 
love our enemies, though to be met with in Gentile moral- 
ists, yet is in a peculiar sense a precept of Christianity, as 
our Saviour has insisted more upon it than on any other 
single virtue." The practice of this precept is the most diffi- 
cult of all virtues. Antoninus often enforces it and gives us 
aid towards following it= When we are injured, we feel 
anger and resentment, and the feeling is natural, just and 
useful for the conservation of society. It is useful that 
wrong-doers should feel the natural consequences of their 
actions, among which is the disapprobation of society and 
the resentment of him who is wronged. But revenge in the 
proper sense of that word, must not be practised. "The 
best way of avenging thyself," says the emperor, "is not 
to become like the wrong-doer." It is plain by this that he 
does not mean that we should in any case practise revenge; 

* Tliis is what Juvenal means when he says (xiv. 321) — • 
Nunquam aliud Natura aliud Sapeutia dicit. 



OF ANTONINUS. dO 

but lie says to those who talk of revenging Avrongs, Be not 
like him who has done the wrong. Socrates in the Crito 
(c. 10) says the same in other words, and Ht. Paul (Ep. to 
the Romans, xil. 17.) "When a man has done thee any 
wrong, immediately consider with what opinion about goou 
or evil he has done wrong, for when thou hast seen this, 
thou wilt pity him and wilt neither wonder nor be angry." 
(vii. 26.) Antoninus would not deny that wrong naturally 
produces the feeling of anger and resentment, for this is im- 
plied in the recommendation to reflect on the nature of the 
man's mind who has done the wrong, and then you will 
have pity instead of resentment: and so it comes to the same 
as St. Paul's advice to be angry and sin not; which, as 
Butler well explains it, is not a recommendation to be angry, 
wl'ich nobody needs, for anger is a natural passion, but it 
is a warning against allowing anger to lead us into sin. In 
short the emperor's doctrine about wrongful acts is this; 
wrong doers do not know what good and bad are: they of- 
fend out of ignorance, and in tlie sense of the Stoics this is 
true. Though this kind of ignorance will never be ad- 
mitted as a legal excuse, and ought not to be admitted as a 
full excuse in any way by society, there maybe grievous in- 
juries, such as it is in a man's power to forgive without 
harm to society; and if he forgives because he sees that his 
enemies know not what they do, he is acting in the spirit of 
the sublime prayer, ''Father, forgive them, for they know 
aot what they do." 

The emperor's moral philosophy was not a feeble, narrow 
system, which teaches a man to look directly to his OM'n hap- 
piness, though a man's happiness or tranquillity is indirectly 
promoted by living as he ought to do. A man must live 
conformably to the universal nature, which means, as the 
emperor explains it in many passages, that a man's actions 
must be conformable to his true relations to all other human 
beings, both as a citizen of a political community and as a 
member of the whole human family. This implies, and lie 
often expresses it in the most forcible language, that a man's 
words and actions, so far as they affect others, must be 
measured by a fixed rule, which is tlieir con?astency with 
the conservation and the interests of the particular society 
of which he is a member, and of the whole human race. To 
live conformably to such a rule, a man must use his rational 
faculties in order to discern clearly the consequences and full 
effect of all his actions and of the actions of others: he must 
not live a life of contemplation and reflection only, though 
he must often retire within himself to calm and purify his 
snul by thought, but he must mingle in the work of man and 
be a fellow laborer for the general good. 

A man should have an object or purpose in life, that ho 
may direct all his energies to it; of course a good object (il. 
7.) He who has not one object or purpose of life, can- 
not be one and the same all through his life. (xi= 21.) 
Bacon has a remark to the same effect, on the best 
means of " reducing of the mind unto virtue and good estate; 
which is, the electing and propounding unto a man's self 
good and virtuous ends of his life, such as may be in a 
reasonable sort within his compass to attain." He is a 



36 THJE PIIILOSOPHT. 

happy man who has been wise enough to do this when he 
was young and has had the opportunities ; but the emperor 
seeing well that a man cannot always be so wise in his 
youth, encourages himself to do it when he can, and not to 
let life slip away before he has begun. He who can pro- 
pose to himself good and virtuous ends of life, and be true 
to them, cannot fail to live conformably to his own interest 
and the universal interest, for in the nature of things they 
are one. If a thing is not good for the hive, it is not good 
for the bee. (vi. 54. ) 

One passage may end this matter, " If the gods have de- 
termined about me and about the things which must happen 
to me, they have determined well, for it is not easy even to 
imagine a deity without forethought ; and as to doing me 
harm, why should they have any desire towards that ? For 
what advantage would result to them from this or to the 
whole, which is the special object of their providence ? But 
if they have not determined about me individually, they 
have certainly determined about the whole at least; and the 
things which happen by way of sequence in this general ar- 
rangement I ought to accept with pleasure and to be content 
with them. But if they determine about nothing — which it 
is wicked to believe, or if we do believe it, let us neither sacri- 
fice nor pray nor swear by them nor do anything else which 
we do as if the gods were present and lived with us — but if 
however the gods determine about none of the things which 
concern us, lam able to determine about myself, and I can 
inquire about that which is useful; and that is useful to 
every man which is conformable to his own constitution 
( jcttTtwjceui}. ) and nature. But my nature is rational and 
social ; and my city and country, so far as I am Antoninus, 
is Rome ; but so far as I am a man, it is the world. The 
things then which are useful to these cities are alone useful 
to me." (vi. 44.) 

It would be tedious, and it is not necessary to state the 
emperor's opinions on all the ways in which a man may prof- 
itably use his understanding towards perfecting himself in 
practical virtue. The passages to this purpose are in all 
parts of his book, but as they are in no order or connection, 
a man must use the book a long time before he will find out 
all that is in it. A few words may be added here. If we 
analyze all other things, we find how insuflBcient they are 
for human life, and how truly worthless many of them are. 
Virtue alone is indivisible, one, and perfectly satisfying. 
The notion of Virtue cannot be considered vague or un- 
settled, because a man may find it difficult to explain the 
notion fully to himself or to expound it to others in such a 
way as to prevent cavilling. Virtue is a whole, and no more 
consists of parts than man's intelligence does, and yet we 
speak of various intellectual faculties as a convenient way of 
expressing the various powers which man's intellect shows 
by its works. In the same way we may speak of various 
virtues or parts of virtue, in a practical sense, for the pxu:- 
pose of showing what particular virtues we ought to prac- 
tise in order to the exercise of the whole of virtue, that is, 
as much as man's nature is capable of. 

The prime principle in man's constitution is social. Tb« 



OF ANTONINUS. 37 

next in order is not to yield to the persuasions of the body, 
when they are not conformable to the rational principle, 
which must govern. The third is freedom from error and 
from deception. "Let then the ruling principle holding 
fast to these things go straight on and it has what is its 
own." (vii. 55.) The emperor selects justice as the virtue 
which is the basis of all the rest (x. 11), and this had been 
said long before his time. 

It is true that all people have some notion of what is 
meant by justice as a disposition of the mind, and some 
notion about acting in conformity to this disposition; but 
experience shows that men's notions about justice are as 
confused as their actions are inconsistent with the true 
notion of justice. The emperor's notion of justice is clear 
enough, but not practical enough for all mankind. " Let 
there be freedom from perturbations with respect to tlie 
things which come from the external cause; and let there 
be justice in things done by virtue of the internal cause, 
that is, let there be movement and action terminating in 
this, in social acts, for this is according to thy nature." 
(tx. 31.) In another place (ix. 1) he says that "he who 
acts unjustly acts impiously," which follows of course from 
all that he says in various places. He insists on the practice 
of truth as a virtue and as a means to virtue, which no 
doubt it is: for lying even in indifferent things weakens the 
understanding: and lying maliciously is as great a moral 
offence as a man can be guilty of, viewed both as showing 
an habitual disposition, and viewed with respect to its con- 
sequences. He couples the notion of justice with action. 
A man must not pride himself on having some fine notion 
of justice in his head, but he must exhibit his justice in act, 
like St James's notion of faith. But this is enough. 

The Stoics and Antoninus among them call some things 
beautiful (xaXd) and some ugly (alaxpa) and as they are 
beautiful so they are good, and as they are ugly so they 
are evil or bad. (ii. 1.) AH these things good and evil 
are in our power, absolutely some of the stricter Stoics would 
Bay; in a manner only, as those who would not depart 
altogether from common sense would say; practically they 
are to a great degree in the power of some persons and in 
some circumstances, but in a small degree only in other 
persons and in other circumstances. The Stoics maintain 
man's free will as to the things which are in his power; for 
as to the things which are out of his power, free will termi- 
nating in action is of course excluded by the very terms of 
the expression. I hardly know if we can discover exactly 
Antoninus' notion of the free will of man, nor is the ques- 
tion worth the inquiry. What he does mean and does say 
is intelligible. All the things which are not in our power 
{a-rrpoaipeTa] are indifferent : they are neither good nor 
bad, morally. Such are life, health, wealth, power, dis- 
ease, poverty and death. Life and death are all men's 
portion. Health, wealth, power, disease and poverty 
happen to men indifferently to the good and to the bad; to 
those who live according to nature and to those who do 
not. "Life," says the emperor, "is a warfare and a 
Stranger's sojoiu-n, and after fame is oblivion," (ji. 17.) 



38 THE PHILOSOPHY 

After speaking of those men who have disturbed the world 
and then died, and of the death of philosophers such as 
Heraclitus and Democritus who was destroyed by Jice, and 
of Socrates whom other lice (his enemies) destroyed), he 
says: "What means all this ? Thou hast embarked, thou 
hast made the voyage, thou art come to shore; get out. If 
indeed to another life, there is no want of gods, not even 
there. But if to a state without sensation, thou wilt cease 
to be held by pains and pleasures, and to be a slave to the 
vessel which is as much inferior as tliat which serves it is 
superior: for the one is intelligence and deity; the other is 
earth and corruption." (iii. 3.) It is not death that a man 
should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live 
according to nature, (xii. 1.) Every man should live in 
such a way as to discharge his duty, and to trouble himself 
about nothing else. He should live such a life that he shall 
always be ready for death, and shall depart content when 
the summons comes. For what is death ? "A cessation of 
the impressions through the senses, and of the pulling of 
the strings which move the appetites and of the discursive 
movements of the thoughts, and of the service to the flesh." 
(vi. 28.) Death is such as generation is, a mystery of 
nature, (iv. 5.) In another passage, the exact meaning of 
which is perhaps doubtful (ix. 3), he speaks of the child 
which leaves the womb, and so he says the soul at death 
leaves its envelope. As the child is born or comes into life 
by leaving the womb, so the soul may on leaving the body 
pass into another existence which is perfect. I am not sure 
if this is the emperor's meaning. Butler compares it with 
a passage in Strabo about the Brahmins' notion of death 
being the birth into real life and a happy life to those who 
have philosophized; and he thinks that Antoninus may 
allude to this opinion.* 

Antoninus' opinion of a future life is nowhere clearly ex- 
pressed. His doctrine of the nature of the soul of necessity 
implies that it does not perish absolutely, for a portion of 
the divinity cannot perish. The opinion is at least as old 
as the time of Epicharmus and Euripides; what comes from 
earth goes back to earth, and what comes from heaven, the 
divinity, returns to Him who gave it. But I find nothing 
clear in Antoninus as to the notion of the man existing after 
death so as to be conscious of his sameness with that soul 
which occupied his vessel of clay. He seems to be perplexed 
on this matter, and finally to have rested in this, that God 
or the gods will do whatever is best and consistent with the 
university of things. 

Nor I think does he speak conclusively on another Stoic 
doctrine , which some Stoics practised, the anticipating the 
regular course of nature by a man's own act. The reader 
will find some passages in which this is touched on, and ho 

* Seneca (Ep. 102-) has the same, whether an expression of his 
own opiuiou, or merely a fine saying of others employed to em- 
bellish his writings, I know not. After speaking of the child 
being prepared in the womb to live this life, he adds, " Sic per 
hoc spatium, quod ab infantia patet in senectutem, in alium 
naturae sumimur paitum. Aha origo uos expectat, aUu^ reruta 
status." 



or ANTON 1J\ V a. 39 

ttiay make of them what he can. But there are passages in 
which the emperor encourages himself to wait for the end 
patiently and with tranquillity; and certainly it is consistent 
with all his hest teaching that a man should bear all that 
falls to his lot and do useful acts as long as he lives. He 
sliould not therefore abridge the time of his usefulness by 
his own act. Whether he contemplates any possible cases 
inwhich a man should die by his own hand, I cannot tell, 
and the matter is not worth a curious inquiry, for I believe 
it would not lead to any certain result as to his opinion on 
this point. I do not think that Antoninus, who never men- 
tions Seneca, though he must have known all about him, 
would have agreed with Seneca when he gives as a reason 
for suicide, that the eternal law, whatever he means, has 
made nothing better for us than this, that it has given lis 
only one way of entering into life and many ways of going 
out of it. The ways of going out indeed are many, and thai 
is a good reason for a man taking care of himself. 

Happiness was not the direct object of a Stoic's life. 
There is no rule of life contained in the precept that a man 
should pursue his own happiness. Many men think that 
tliey are seeking happiness when they are only seeking the 
gialiilcation of some particular passion, the strongest that 
tliey liave. The end of a man is, as already explained, to live 
conformably to nature, and he will thus obtain happiness, 
tranquillity of mind and contentment, (in, 12; viii. 1, and 
other places. ) As a means of living conformably to nature 
he must study the four chief virtues, each of which has its 
proper sphere : wisdom or the knowledge of good and evil ; 
justice, or the giving to every man his due; fortitude, or the 
enduring of labor and pain; and temperance, which is mod- 
eration in all things. By thus living conformably to nature, 
the Stoic obtained all that he wished or expected. His re- 
ward was in his virtuous life, and he was satisfied with that. 
Some Greek poet long ago wrote : — 

For virtue only of all human things 

Takes her reward not from the hands of others. 

Virtue herself rewards the toils of virtue. 

Some of the Stoics indeed expressed themselves in very 
ari'ogant, absurd terms, about the wise man's self sufficiency; 
they elevated him to the rank of a deity.* But these were 
only talkers and lecturers, such as those in all ages who 
utter fine words, know little of human affairs, and care only 
for notoriety. Epicteius and Antoninus both by precept 
and example labored to improve themselves and others: and 
if we discover imperfections in their teaching, we must still 
honor these great men who attempted to show that there is 
in man's nature and in the constitution of things sufficient 
reason for living a virtuous life. It is difficult enough to live 
as we ought to live, difficult even for any man to live in 

• J. Smith in his Select Discourses on " the Excellency and 
Nobleness of true religion" (c. vr.) has remarked on this Stoical 
arrogance. He fiuds it in Seneca and otliers. In Seneca cer- 
tainly, and perhaps something of it in Epictetus; but it is not in 
Antoniaus. 



40 THE PHILOSOPHY OF ANTONINUS. 

such a way as to satisfy himself, if he exercises only in a 
moderate degree tlie power of reflecting upon and reviewing 
his own conduct; and if all men cannot be brought to th< 
same opinions in morals and religion, it is at least wortl 
while to give them good reasons for as much as they mv- h( 
persuaded to accept. 



M. ANTONINUS. 

I. 

Fkom my grandfather Verus^ [I learned] 
good morals and the government of my temper. 

2. From the reputation and remembrance of 
my father,^ modesty and a manly character. 

3. From m}^ mother,^ piety and beneficence, 
and abstinence, not only from evil deeds, hut even 
from evil tJioughts ; and further, simplicity in my 
way of living, far removed from the habits of 
the rich. 

4. From my great-grandfather,* not to have 
frequented 2:)ublic schools, and to have had good 
teachers at home, and to know that on such 
things a man should spend liberally. 

5. From my governor, to be neither of the 
green nor of the blue party at the games in the 
Circus, nor a partisan either of the Parmularius 
or the Scutarius at the gladiators' fights ; from 
him too I learned endurance of labor, and to 
want little, and to work with my own hands, 
and not to meddle with other people's affairs, 
and not to be ready to listen to slander. 

^ Annius Yerus was his grandfather's name. There is 
no verb in this section connected with the word "from," 
nor in the following sections of this book; and it is not 
quite certain wliat verb sliould be supplied. What I have 
added may express the meaning here, though there are 
sections which it will not fit. If he does not mean to say 
lliat he learned all these good things from the several per- 
sons whom he mentions, he means that he observed cer- 
tain good quahties in them, or received certain benefits 
from them, and it is implied that he was the better for it, 
or at least might have been; for it would be a mistake to 
understand Marcus as saying that lie possessed all the 
virtues whicli he observed in his kinsmen and teachers. 

2 His father's name was Annius Verus. 

? His mother was Domitia Calvilla, named also Lucilla 

^ Perhaps bis motbe's graudfather« Catillus Sevenw. 



42 THOUGHTS OF IHE EMPEROR 

6. From Diognetus, not to busy myself about 
trifling things, and not to give credit to wluit 
was said by miracle- workers and jugglers about 
incantations and the driving away of daemons 
and such things ; and not to breed quails [fur 
fighting], nor to give myself up passionately to 
such tilings ; and to endure freedom of speech ; 
and to have become intimate with philosophy ; 
and to have been a hearer, first of Bacchius, 
then of Tandasis and Marcianus ; and to have 
written dialogues in my youth ; and to have 
desired a plank bed and skin, and whatever 
else of the kind belongs to the Grecian dis- 
cipline. 

7. From Rusticus ^ I received the impression 
that my character required improvement and 
discipline ; and from him I learned not to be 
led astray to sophistic emulation, nor to writing 
on speculative matters, nor to delivering little 
hortatory orations, nor to showing myself off as 
a man who practises much discipline, or does 
benevolent acts in order to m^ake a display ; and 
to abstain from rhetoric, and poetry, and fine 
writing ; and not to walk about in the house in 
my outdoor dress, nor to do other things of the 
kind; and to write my letters with simplicity, 
like the letter which Rusticus wrote from Sinu- 
essa to my mother ; and with respect to those 
who have offended me by \A'ords, or done me 
wrong, to be easily disposed, to be pacified and 
reconciled, as soon as they have shown a readi- 
ness to be reconciled ; and to read carefully^ 
and not to he satisfied with a superficial under- 
standing of a hook ; nor hastily to give my assent 

'^ Q. Junius Rusticus was a Stoic philosopher, whom An- 
toninus vakied highly, and often took his advice. (Capitol, 
3/. Antonin iii.) 

Antoninus says, rots 'ETrt/cTT/refois ^ofj.v^fM(Tiii^ which 

must not be translated, "the writings of Epictetus," for 
Epictetus wrote nothing. His pupil Arrian, who has pre- 
served for us all that we know of Epictetus, says, ravra ^et» 
pddUfP hroixv-nutaTO, iaavrij Staoi/Xdjat t^s iKelvov diavo'-ai. 



M. AVttELlUS ANTONWVS.. 43 

to those wlio talk over-much ; and I am indebted 
to him for being acquainted with the discourses 
of Epictetus, which he communicated to me out 
of his own collection. 

8. From ApoUonius^ I learned freedom of will 
and undeviating steadiness of purpose ; and to 
look to nothing else, not even for a moment, ex- 
cept to reason ; and to be always the same, in 
sharp pains, on the occasion of the loss of_a 
child, and in long illness ; and to see clearly in 
a living example that the same man can be both 
most resolute and yielding, and not peevish in 
giving his instruction ; and to have had before 
my eyes a man who clearly considered his ex- 
perience and his skill in expounding philoso- 
phical principles as the smallest of his merits ; 
and from him I learned how to receive from 
friends what are esteemed favors, without being 
either humbled by them or letting them pass 
unnoticed. 

9. From Sextus,': a benevolent disposition, and 
the example of a family governed in a fatherly 
manner, and the idea of living conformable to 
nature ; and gravity without affectation, and to 
look carefully after the interests of friends, a.nd 
to tolerate ignorant persons, and those who 
form opinions without consideration f : he had 
the powers of readily accommodating himself to 
all, so that intercourse with him was more 
agreeable than any flattery ; and at the same time 
he was most highly venerated by those who as- 
sociated with him : and he had the faculty both 
of discovering and ordering, in an intelligent 
and methodical way, the principles necessary 
for life ; and he never showed anger or any other 
passion, but was entirely free from passion, 
also most affectionate ; and he could express 



6 Apollonias of Chalcis came to Rome in the time of Pius 
to be Marcus, preceptor. He was a rigid Stoic. 

7 Sextus of Cliferouea, a grandson of Plutarcli. or nephew, 
as some say ; but more probably a grandson. 



44 TBOXTGHTS OF THE EMPEHOh, 

approbation without noisy display, and lie pes* 
sessed much knowledge without ostentatiouo 

10. From Alexander 8 the grammarian, tore- 
frani from fault-finding, and not in a reproachful 
way to chide those who uttered any barbarous 
or solecistic or strange-sounding expression ; but 
dexterously to introduce the very expression 
which ought to have been used, and in the way 
of answering or giving confirmation, or joining 
m an inquiry about the thing itself, not about 
the word, or by some other fit suggestion. 

11. From Fronto * I learned to observe what 
envy, and duplicity, and hypocrisy are in a 
tyrant, and that generally those among us who 
are called Patricians are rather deficient in pater- 
nal affection. 

12. From Alexander the Platonic, not fre- 
quently nor without necessity to say to any one, 
or to write in a letter, tliat I have no leisure ; 
nor continually to excuse the neglect of duties 
required by our relation to those with whom we 
live, by alleging urgent occupations. 

13. From Catulus,io not to be indifferent when 
a friend finds fault, even if he should find fault 
without reason, but to try to restore liim to his 
usual disposition ; and to be ready to speak well 
of teachers, as it is reported of Domitius and 
Athenodotus ; and to love my children truly. 

^14. From my brother" Severus, to love my 
km, and to love truth, and to love justice ; and 
through him I learned to knowThrasea, Helvid- 

^ Alexander was a Grammaticus, a native of Phrvt^ia 
He wrote a commentary on Homre ; and the rbetorican 
Anstides wrote a panegyric on Alexander in a funeral 
oration. 

« Cornelius Fronto was a rhetorician, and n great favor 
with Marcus There arc extant various letters between 
Marcus and Fronto. 

10 Cinna Catulus, a Stoic philosopher. 

The word brother may not be genuine. Antoninus had 
no brothoj-. It has been supposed'that he may mean some 
cousin. SehuKz omits '< brorlip--." and savs ibat thisSeverus 
JS probably Claudius tteveruSj a peripatetic. 



M, AUBSLIUS ANTQ-^mUS. 45 

ius, Cato, Dion, Brutus ;i2 and from him I receiv- 
ed the idea of a polity in which there is the same 
law for all, a polity administered with regard to 
equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and 
the idea of a kingly government which respects 
most of all the freedom of the governed; I 
learned from him also f consistency and un- 
deviating steadiness in my regard for philosophy; 
and a disposition to do good, and to give to 
others readily, and to cherish good hopes, and 
to believe that I am loved by my friends ; and 
in him I observed no concealment of his opinions 
with respect to those whom he condemned, and 
that his friends had no need to conjecture what 
he wished or did not wish, but it was quite 
plain. 

15. From Maximus^^ I learned self-government, 
and not to be led aside by anything ; and cheer- 
fulness in all circumstances, as well as in illness ; 
and a just admixture in the moral character of 
sweetness and dignity, and to do what was set 
before me without complaining, I observed that 
everybody believed that he thought as he spoke, 
and that in all that he did he never had any bad 
intention ; and he never showed amazement and 
surprise, and was never in a hurry, and never put 
off doing a thing, nor was perplexed nor de- 
jected, nor did he ever laugh to disguise his 
vexation, nor, on the other hand, was he ever 
passionate or suspicious. He was accustomed 
to do acts of beneficence, and was ready to for- 
give, and was free from all falsehood ; and he 
presented the appearance of a man who could 
not be diverted from right rather than of a man 

^2 We know, from Tacitus {Annal.siui. , xvi. 21 ; and other 
passages), who Thrasea and Helvidius were. Plutarch has 
written the lives of the two Catos, and of Dion and Brutus. 
Antoninus probably alludes to Cato of Utica, who was a 
Stoic. 

^ Claudius Maximus was a Stoic philosopher, who was 
highly esteemed also by Antoninus Pius, Marcus' prede- 
cessor. The character of luaximus is that of a perfect 
man. (See viii. 25.) 



46 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROB. 

who had been improved. I observed, too, that 
no man could ever think that he was despised 
by Maximus, or ever venture to think himself a 
better man. He had also the art of being hu- 
morous in an agreeable way.f 

16. In mj father -^^ I observed mildness of 
temper, and unchangeable resolution in the 
things which he had determined after due delib- 
eration ; and no vainglory in those things which 
men call honors ; and a love of labor and perse- 
verence : and a readiness to listen to those who 
had anything to propose for the common weal ; 
and undeviating firmness in giving to every man 
according to his deserts ; and a knowledge de- 
rived from experience of the occasions for vig- 
orous action and for remission. And I observ- 
ed that he had overcome all passion for boys ; 
and he considered himself no more than any 
other citizen ; and he released his friends from 
all obligation to sup with him or to attend him 
of necessity when he went abroad, and those 
who had failed to accompany him, by reason of 
any urgent circumstances, always found him 
the same. I observed too his habit of careful 
inquiry in all matters of deliberation, and his 
persistency, and that he never stopped his inves- 
tigation through being satisfied with appear- 
ces which first present themselves ; and that 
his disposition was to keep his friends, and not 
to be soon tired of them, nor yet to be extrava- 
gant in his affection; and to be satisfied on all 
occasions, and cheerful; and to foresee things a 
long way off, and to provide for the smallest 
without display ; and to check immediately pop- 
ular applause and all flattery ; and to be ever 
watchful over the things which were necessary 
for the administration of the empire, and to be 
a good manager of the expenditure, and patient- 
ly to endure the blame which he got for such 
conduct ; and he was neither superstitious with 

^* He means his adoptive father, his predecessor, the Em- 
peror Antoninus Pius. 



M. A VRELIU8 ANTOiS'TNUS. 4? 

Tf-gpect to the gods, nor did lie court men by 
gifts or by trying to please them, or by flatter- 
ing the populace ; but he showed sobriety in 
all things and firmness, and never any mean 
thoughts or action, nor love of novelty. And 
the things which conduce in any way to the 
commodity of life, and of which fortune gives 
an abundant supply, he used without arrogance 
and without excusing himself ; so that when he 
had them, he enjoyed them without affectation, 
and when he had them not, he did not want 
them. No one could ever say of him that he 
w^as either a sophist or a [home-bred] flippant 
slave or a pedant ; but every one acknowledged 
him to be a man ripe, perfect, above flattery, 
able to manage his own and other men's affairs. 
Besides this, he honored those who were true 
philosophers, and he did not reproach those wlio 
pretended to be philosophers, nor yet was he 
easily led by them. He was also easy in con- 
versation, and he made himself agreeable with- 
out any offensive affectation. He took a rea- 
sonable care of his body's health, not as one who 
was greatly attached to life, nor out of regard to 
personal appearance, nor yet in a careless way, 
but so that, through his own attention, he very 
seldom stood in need of the physician's art "or of 
medicine or external applications. He was 
most ready to give way without envy to those 
who possessed any particular faculty, such as 
that of eloquence or knowledge of the law or of 
morals, or of anything else ; and he gave them 
his help, that each might enjoy reputation ac- 
cording to his deserts ; and he always acted con- 
formably to the institutions of his country, with- 
out showing any affectation of doing so. Fur- 
ther, he was not fond of change nor unsteady, but 
he loved to stay in the same places, and to em- 
ploy himself about the same things ; and after 
his paroxysms of headache he came immediately 
fresh and vigorous to his usual occupations. 
His secrets were not many, but very few and 



48 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEliOR. 

Yery rare, and these only about public 
matters ; and lie showed prudebce and econ- 
omy in the exhibition of the public spec- 
tacles and the construction of public buildings, 
his donations to the people, and in such things, 
for he was a man who looked to what ought to 
be done, not to the reputation which is got by 
a man's acts. He did not take the bath at un- 
seasonable hours ; he was not fond of building 
houses, nor curious about what he ate, nor about 
the texture and color of his clothes, nor about 
the beauty of his slaves.^^ His dress came from 
Lorium, his villa on the coast, and from Lanu- 
vium generally.!^ We know how he behaved to 
the toll-collector in Tusculum who asked liis 
pardon ; and such was all his behavior. There was 
in him nothing harsh, nor implacable, nor violent, 
nor, as one may say, anything carried to the 
sweating point ; but he examined all things 
severally, as if he had abundance of time, and 
without confusion, in an orderly way, vigorous- 
ly and consistently. And that might be applied 
to him which is recorded of Socrates,^'^ that he 
was able both to abstain from, and to enjoy, 
those things which many are too weak to abstain 
from, and cannot enjoy without excess. But 
to be strong enough to bear the one and to be 
sober in the other is the mark of a man who has 
a perfect and invincible soul, such as he showed 
in the ilhiess of Maximus. 

17. To the gods I am indebted for having 
good grandfathers, good parents, a good sister, 
good teachers, good associates, good kinsmen 
and friends, nearly everything good. Further, 
I owe it to the gods that I was not hurried into 
any offence against any of them, though I had 
a disposition which, if opportunity had offered, 

^5 This passage is corrupt, and the exact meaning is un- 
certain. 

^'' Lorium was a villa on the coast north of Kome, and 
there Antoninus was brought up, and he died there. This 
also is corrupt. 

^''Xenophon, Memorab. i. 3. 15. 



M. AUBELIUS ANTONINUS. 40 

might liave led me to do something of this kind •, 
but, through their favor, there never was such a 
concurrence of circumstances as put me to the 
trial. Further, I am thankful to the gods that 
I was not longer brought up with my grand- 
father's concubine, and that I preserved the 
flower of my youth, and that I did not make 
proof of my virility before the proper season, 
but even deferred the time; that I was sub- 
jected to a ruler and a father who Avas able to 
take away all pride from me, and to bring me 
to the knowledge that it is possible for a man to 
live in a palace without wanting either guards 
or embroidered dresses, or torches and statues, 
and such-like show ; but that it is in such a 
man's power to bring himself very near to the 
fashion of a private person, without being for 
this reason either meaner in thought, or more 
remiss in action, with respect to the things which 
must be done for the public interest in a manner 
that befits a ruler. I thank the gods for giving 
me such a brother,^^ who was able by his moral 
character to rouse me to vigilance over myself, 
and who, at the same time, pleased me by his 
respect and affection; that my children have 
not been stupid nor deformed in body ; that I 
did not make more proficiency in rhetoric, poetry, 
and the other studies, in which I should perhaps 
have been completely engaged, if I had seen that 
I was making progress in them; that I made 
haste to place those who brought me up in the 
station of honor, which they seemed to desire, 
without putting them off with hope of my doing 
it some time after, because they were then still 
young ; that I knew ApoUonius, Rusticus, Maxi- 
mus ; that I received clear and frequent impres- 
sions about living according to nature, and what 
kind of a life that is, so that, so far as depended 
on the gods, and their gifts, and help, and inspira- 
tions, nothing hindered me from forthwith living 

^^ The emperor had no brother, except L- Vems, his 
brother by adoption. 



^^i^^as 



60 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR. 

according to nature, tliougli I still fall short of 
it through my own fault, and through not ob- 
serving the admonitions of the gods, and, I may 
almost say, their direct instructions ; that my 
body has held out so long in such a kind of life ; 
that I never touched either Benedicta or Theo- 
dotus, and that, after having fallen into amatory 
passions, I was cured ; and, though I was often 
out of humor with Rusticus, I never did any- 
thing of which I had occasion to repent ; that, 
though it was my mother's fate to die young, 
she spent the last years of her life with me ; 
that, whenever I wished to help any man in his 
need, or on any other occasion, I was never told 
that I had not the means of doing it ; and that 
to myself the same necessity never happened, to 
receive anything from another ; that I have such 
a wife,^^ so obedient, and so affectionate, and so 
simple ; that I had abundance of good masters 
for ni}^ children ; and that remedies have been 
shown to me by dreams, both others, and against 

blood-spitting and giddiness ^° ; and that, 

when I had an inclination to philosophy, I did 
not fall into the hands of any sophist, and that 
I did not waste my time on writers [of histories], 
or in the resolution of syllogisms, or occupy 
myself about the investigation of appearances in 
the heavens ; for all these things require the 
help of the gods and fortune. 

Among the Quadi at the Granua.21 

^^ See tlie Life of Antoninus. 

^ This is corrupt. 

21 The Quadi lived in the southern part of Bohemia and 
Moravia ; and Antoninus made a campaign against tliem. 
(See the Life.) Granua is probably the river Graan, which 
flows into the Danube. 

If these words are genuine, Antoninus may have written 
this first book during the war with tlie Quadi. In tlie first 
edition of Antoninus, and in the older editions, the first 
three sections of the second boo Iv make the conclusion of the 
first book. Gataker placed them at the beginning of the 
second book. 



M. AUEELIUS ANTONINUS. 5t 



II. 

Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I 
shall meet with the busybody, the ungrateful, 
arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these 
things happen to them by reason of their igno- 
rance of what is good and evil. But I who have 
seen the nature of the good that it is beautiful, 
and of the bad that it is ugly, and the nature of 
him who does wrong, that it is akin to me, not 
[only] of the same blood or seed, but that it 
participates in [the same] intelligence and [the 
same] portion of the divinity, I can neither be 
injured by any of them, for no one can fix on me 
what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kins- 
man, nor hate him. For we are made for co- 
operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like 
the rows of the upper and lower teeth.. To act 
against one another then is contrary to nature ; 
and it is acting against one another to be vexed 
and to turn away. 

2. Whatever this is that I am, it is a little 
flesh and breath, and the ruling part. Throw 
away thy books ; no longer distract thyself : it 
is not allowed; but as if thou wast now dying, 
despise the flesh : it is blood and bones and a 
network, a contexture of nerves, veins, and ar- 
teries. See the breath also, what kind of a 
thing it is, air, and not always the same, but 
every moment sent out and again sucked in. 
The third then is the ruling part : consider 
thus : Thou art an old man ; no longer let this 
be a slave, no longer be pulled by the strings like 
a puppet to unsocial movements, no longer be 
either dissatisfied with thy present lot, or shrink 
from the future. 

3. All that is from the gods is full of provi- 
denceo That which is from fortune is not sep- 



^^^SSSSSI^B 



52 TROUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR. 

arated from nature or without an interweaving 
and involutio]! with the things which are or- 
dered by providence. From thence all things 
flow ; and there is besides necessity, and that 
which is for the advantage of the whole uni- 
verse, of which thou art a part. But that is 
good for every part of nature which the nature 
of the whole brings, and what serves to main- 
tain this nature. Now the universe is preserved, 
as by the changes of the elements so by the 
changes of things compounded. Let these prin- 
ciples be enough for thee, let them always be 
fixed opinions. But cast away the thirst after 
books, that thou mayest not die murmuring, but 
cheerfully, truly, and from thy heart thankful 
to the gods. 

4. Remember how long thou hast been put- 
ting off these things, and how often thou hast 
received an opportunity from the gods, and yet 
dost not use it. Thou must now at last per- 
ceive of what universe thou art a part, and of 
what administrator of the universe thy exist- 
ence is an efflux, and that a limit of time is 
fixed for thee, which if thou dost not use for 
clearing away the clouds from thy mind, it will 
go and thou wilt go, and it will never return,, 

5. Every moment think steadily as a Roman 
and a man, to do what thou hast in hand with 
perfect and simple dignity, and feeling of affec- 
tion, and freedom, and justice ; and to give thy- 
self relief from all other thoughts. And thou 
wilt give thyself relief, if thou doest every act 
of thy life as if it were the last, laying aside all 
carelessness and passionate aversion from the 
commands of reason, and all hypocrisy, and self- 
love, and discontent with the portion which has 
been given to thee. Thou seest how few the 
things are, the which if a man lays hold of, he 
is able to live a life which flows in quiet, and is 
like the existence of the gods ; for the gods on 
their part will require nothing more from him 
who observes these things, 



M. AUBELIUS ANTONIKUS. 53 

6. Do wrong to thyself, do wrong to thyself, 
my soul; but thou wilt no longer have the op- 
portunity of honoring thyself. Every man's life 
is sufficient.! But thine is nearly finished, 
though thy soul reverence not itself, but places 
thy felicity in the souls of others. 

7. Do the things external which fall upon 
thee distract thee ? Give thyself time to learn 
something new and good, and cease to be whirl- 
ed around. But then thou must also avoid being 
carried about the other way. For those too are 
triflers who have wearied themselves in life by 
their activity, and yet have no object to which 
to direct every movement, and, in a word, all 
their thoughts. 

8. Through not observing what is in the mind 
of another a man has seldom been seen to be un- 
happy; but those who do not observe the move- 
ments of their own minds must of necessity be 
unhappy. 

9. This thou must always bear in mind, what 
is the nature of the whole, and what is my na- 
ture, and how this is related to that, and what 
kind of a part it is of what kind of a whole ; 
and that there is no one who hinders thee from 
always doing and saying the things which are 
according to the nature of which thou art a 
part. 

10. Theophrastus, in his comparison of bad 
acts — such a comparison as one would make in 
accordance with the common notions of man- 
kind — says, like a true philosopher, that the 
offences which are committed through desire are 
more blamable than those which are committed 
through anger. For he who is excited by anger 
seems to turn away from reason with a certain 
pain and unconscious contraction ; but he who 
offends through desire, being overpowered by 
pleasure, seems to be in a manner more intem- 
perate and more womanish in his offences. 
Rightly then, and in a way worthy of philosphy, 
Jie said that the offence which is committed with 



54 TBOUQIITS OF THE F.MPFROR 

pleasure is more blamable ttian that which is 
committed with pain ; and on the whole the one 
is more like a person who has been first wronged 
and through pain is compelled to be angry ; but 
the other is moved bj his own impulse to do 
wrong, being carried towards doing something 
by desire. 

11. Since it is possible that thou mayest de- 
part from life this very moment, regulate eve/y 
act and thought accordingly. But to go awa " 
from among men, if there are gods, is not a 
thing to be afraid of, for the gods will not 
involve thee in evil ; but if indeed they do not 
exist, or if they have no concern about human 
affairs, what it is to me to live in a universe de- 
void of gods or devoid of providence ? But in 
truth they do exist, and they do care for human 
things, and they have put all the means in man's 
power to enable him not to fall into real evils. 
And as to the rest, if there was anything evil, 
they would have provided for this also, that it 
should be altogether in a man's power not to fall 
into it. Now that which does not make a man 
worse, how can it make a man's life worse ? 
But neither through ignorance, nor having the 
knowledge, but not the power to guard against 
or correct these things, is it possible that the 
nature of the universe has overlooked them; 
nor is it possible that it has made so great a 
mistake, either through want of power or want 
of skill, that good and evil should happen 
indiscriminately to the good and the bad. But 
death certainly, and life, honor and dishonor, 
pain and pleasure, all these things equally? 
happen to good men and bad, being things 
which make us neither better nor worse. There* 
fore they are neither good nor evil. 

12. How quickly all things disappear, in the 
universe ? the bodies themselves, but in time the 
remembrance of them ; what is the nature of all 
sensible things, and particulaly those which 
attract with the bait of pleasure or terrify by 



M. AURELIUS ANTONINUS. 65 

pain, or are noised abroad by vapory fame ; how 
worthless, and contemptible, and sordid, and per- 
ishable, and dead they are — all this it is the 
part of the intellectual facultj' to observe. To 
observe too who these are whose opinions and 
voices give reputation ; what death is, and the 
fact that, if a man looks at it in itself, and by 
the abstractive power of reflection revolves into 
their parts all the things which present them- 
selves to the imagination in it, he will then 
consider it to be nothing else than an operation of 
nature ; and if one is afraid of an operation of 
nature, he is a child. This, however, is not only 
an operation of nature, but it is also a thing 
which conduces to the purposes of nature. To 
observe too how man comes near to the deity, 
aud by what part of him, and when this part of 
man is so disposed.f 

13. Nothing is more wretched than a man 
who traverses everything in a round, and pries 
into the things beneath the earth, as the poet 
says, and seeks by conjecture what is in the 
minds of his neighbors, without perceiving that 
it is sufficient to attend to the daemon within 
him, and to reverence it sincerely. And rever- 
e 'ice of the daemon consists in keeping it pure 
f 1 im passion and thoughtlessness, and dissatis- 
faction with what comes from gods and men. 
For the things from the gods merit veneration 
for their excellence ; and the things from men 
should be dear to us by reason of kinship ; and 
sometimes even, in a manner, they move our 
pity by reason of men's ignorance of good and 
bad ; this defect being not less than that which 
deprives us of the power of distinguishing 
things that are white and black. 

14. Though thou shouldest be going to live 
three thousand years, aud as many times ten 
thousand years, still remember that no man 
loses any other life than this which he now lives 
nor lives any other than this which he now loses. 
Tha longest aud shortest are thus brought to 



66 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEEOE. 

the same. For the present is the same to all, 
though that which is past is not the same ; and 
so that which is lost appears to be a mere mo- 
ment. For a man cannot lose either the past 
or the future : for what a man has not, how can 
any one take this from him ? These two things 
then thou must bear in mind; the one, that all 
things from eternity are of like forms and come 
round in a circle, and that it makes no difference 
whether a man shall see the same things during 
a hundred years or two hundred, or an infinite 
time ; and the second, that the longest liver and 
he who will die soonest lose just the same. 
For the present is the only thing of which a 
man can be deprived, if it is true that this is the 
only thing which he has, and that a* man can- 
not lose a thing if he has it not. 

15. Remember that all is opinion. For what 
was said by the Cynic Monimus is manifest : 
and manifest too is the use of what was said, if 
a man receives what may be got out of it as far 
as it is true. 

16. The soul of man does violence to itself, 
first of all, when it becomes an abscess and, as 
it were, a tumor on the universe, so far as it 
can. For to be vexed at anything which hap- 
pens is a separation of ourselves from nature, in 
some part of which the natures of all other things 
are contained. In the next place, the soul does 
violence to itself when it turns away from any 
man, or even moves towards him with the in- 
tention of injuring, such as are the souls of 
those who are angry. In the third place, the 
soul does violence to itself when it is over- 
powered by pleasure or by pain. Fourth- 
ly, when it plays a part, and does or says 
anything insincerely and untruly. Fifthly, 
when it allows any act of its own and any move- 
ment to be without an aim, and does anything 
thoughtlessly and without considering what it 
is, it being right that even the smallest things 
be done with reference to an end^ and the en(J 



3f. AVRELIUS ANTONmtrS. QT 

of rational animals is to follow the reason and 
the law of the most ancient city and polity. 

17. Of human life the time is a point, and the 
substance is in a flux, and the perception dull, 
:iiid the composition of the whole body subject 
to putrefaction, and the soul a whirl, and for- 
tune hard to divine, and fame a thing devoid of 
judgment. And, to say all in a word, every- 
thing which belongs to the body is a stream, 
and what belongs to the soul is a dream and va- 
por, and life is a warfare and a stranger's so- 
journ, and after-fame is oblivion. What then 
is that which is able to conduct a man? One 
thing and only one, philosophy. But this con- 
sists in keeping the daemon within a man free 
from violence and unharmed, superior to pains 
and pleasures, doing nothing without a purpose, 
nor yet falsely and with hypocris}^, not feeling the 
need of another man's doing or not doing any- 
thing ; and besides, accepting all that happens, 
and all that is allotted, as coming from thence, 
■ wherever it is, from whence he himself came ; 
and, finally, waiting for death with a cheerful 
mind, as being nothing else than a dissolution 
of the elements of which every living being is 
compounded. But if there is no harm to the 
elements themselves in each continually chang- 
ing into another, why should a man have any 
apprehension about the change and dissolution 
of all the elements ? For it is according to na- 
ture, and nothing is evil which is according to 
nature. 

This in Carnuntum.^ 

1 Carnuntum was a town of Pannonia, on the south side of 
the Danube, about thirty miles east of Vindobona (Vienna), 
Orosius (vii. 15. ) and Eutropius (viii. 18.) say tliat Anto- 
n i ruis remained three years at Carnuntum during his war with 
Marcomanni, 



58 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR 



III. 

We ougnt to consider not only that our life 
is daily wasting away and a smaller part of it is 
left, but another thing also must be taken into 
the account, that if a man should live longer, it 
is quite uncertain whether the understanding 
will still continue sufficient for the comprehen- 
sion of things, and retain the power of contem- 
plation which strives to acquire the knowledge 
of the divine and the human. For if he shall 
begin to fall into dotage, perspiration, and nu- 
trition, and imagination, and appetite, and what- 
ever else there is of the kind, will not fail ; but 
the power of making use of ourselves, and fill- 
ing up the measure of our duty, and clearly sep- 
arating all appearances, and considering whether 
a man should now depart from life, and whatj 
ever else of the kind absolutely requires a dis- 
ciplined reason, all this is already extinguished. 
We must make haste then, not only because we 
are daily nearer to death, but also because the 
conception of things and the understanding of 
them cease first. 

2. We ought to observe also that even the 
things which follow after the things which are 
produced according to nature contain something 
pleasing and attractive. For instance, when 
bread is baked some parts are split at the sur- 
face, and these parts which are thus open, and 
have a certain fashion contrary to the purpose 
of the baker's art, are beautiful in a manner, 
and in a peculiar way excite a desire for eating. 
And again, figs, when they are quite ripe, ga^e 
open ; and in the ripe olives the very circui. r- 
stance of their being near to rottenness adds u 
■peculiar beauty to the fruit. And the ears of 
com bending down, and the lion's eyebrows, 



M. AUEELIUS ANTONINUS. 59 

and the foam whicn flows from the mouth of 
wild boars, and many other things — though they 
are far from being beautiful, if a man should ex- 
amine them severally, — still, because they are 
consequent upon the things which are formed 
by nature, help to adorn them, and they please 
the mind ; so that if a man should have a feel- 
ing and deeper insight with respect to the things 
which are produced in the universe, there is 
hardly one of those which follow by way of con 
sequence which will not seem to him to be in a 
manner disposed so as to give pleasure. And so 
he will see even the real gaping jaws of wild 
beasts with no less pleasure than those which 
^:>ainters and sculptors show by imitation ; and 
in an old woman and an old man he will be able 
to see a certain maturity and comeliness ; and 
the attractive loveliness of young persons, he 
vyill be able to look on with chaste eyes ; and 
many such things will present themselves, not 
pleasing to every man, but to him only who lias 
become truly familiar with nature and her 
works. 

3. Hippocrates after curing many diseases 
himself fell sick and died. The Chaldsei fore- 
told the deaths of many, and then fate caught 
them too. Alexander and Pompeius, and Caius 
Gsesar, after so often completely destroying 
whole cities, and in battle cutting to pieces many 
ten thousands of cavalry and infantry, them- 
selves too at last dejDarted from life. Heracli- 
tus, after so many speculations on the conflagra- 
tion of the universe, was filled with water in- 
ternally and died smeared all over with mud. 
And lice destroyed Democritus ; and other lice 
killed Socrates. What means all this? Thou 
hast embarked, thou hast made the voyage, thou 
art come to shore ; get out. If indeed to an- 
other life, there is no want of gods, not even 
there. But if to a state without sensation, thou 
wilt cease to be held by pains and pleasures, 
and to be a slave to the vessel, whiph is as muQli 



60 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEBOR 

inferior as that whicli serves it is superior ; f for 
the one is intelligence and deity ; the other is 
earth and corruption. 

4. Do not waste the remainder of thy life in 
thoughts about others, when thou dost not refer 
thy thoughts to some object of common utility. 
For thou losest the opportunity of doing some- 
thing else when thou hast such thoughts as 
these. What is such a person doing, and why, 
and what is he saying, and what is he thinking 
of, and what is he contriving, and whatever else 
of the kind makes us wander away from the ob- 
servation of our own ruling power. We ought 
then to check in the series of our thoughts every- 
thing that is without a purpose and useless, but 
most of all the overcurious feeling and the mal- 
ignant ; and a man should use himself to think 
of those things only about which if one should 
suddenly ask. What hast thou now in thy 
thoughts ? with perfect openness thou mightest 
immediately answer, This or That ; so that from 
thy words it should be plain that everything in 
thee is simple and benevolent, and such as befits 
a social animal, and one that cares not for 
thoughts about pleasure or sensual enjoyments 
at all, or any rivalry or envy and suspicion, or 
anything else for which thou wouldst blush if 
thou shouldst say that thou hadst it in thy mind. 
, For the man who is such as no longer to delay 
being among the number of the best, is like a 
priest and minister of the gods, using too the 
[deity] which is planted within him, which 
makes the man uncontaminated by pleasure, un- 
harmed by any pain, untouched by any insult, 
feeling no wrong, a fighter in the noblest fight, 
one who cannot be overpowered by any passion, 
dyed deep with justice, accepting with all his 
soul everything which happens and is assigned 
to him as his portion ; and not often, nor yet 
without great necessity and for the general in- 
terest, imagining what another says, or does, or 
thinks.. For it is only what belongs to himself 



M. AURELIUS ANTONINUS. 61 

that lie makes the matter for his activity ; and 
he constantly thinks of that which is allotted to 
himself out of the sum total of things, and he 
makes his own acts fair, and he is persuaded 
that his own portion is good. For the lot which 
is assigned to each man is carried along with him 
and carries him along with it. f And he re- 
members also that every rational animal is his 
kinsman, and that to care for all men is accord- 
ing to man's nature ; and a man should hold on 
to the opinion not of all, but of those only who 
confessedly live according to nature. But as to 
those who live not so, he always bears in mind 
what kind of men they are both at home and 
from home, both by night and by day, and what 
they are, and with what men they live an im- 
pure life. Accordingly, he does not value at all 
the praise which comes from such men, since 
they are not even satisfied with themselves. 

5. Labor not unwillingly, nor without regard 
to the common interest, nor without due consid- 
eration, nor with distraction ; nor let studied 
ornament set off thy thoughts, and be not 
either a man of many words, or busy about too 
many things. And further, let the deity which 
is in thee be the guardian of a living being, 
manly and of ripe age, and engaged in matter 
political, and a Roman, and a ruler, who has 
taken his post like a man waiting for the signal 
which summons him from life, and ready to go, 
having need neither of oath nor of any man's 
testimony. Be cheerful also, and seek not ex- 
ternal help nor the tranquillity which others 
give. A man then must stand erect, not be 
Icept erect by others. 

6. If thou findest in human life anything bet 
ter than justice, truth, temperance, fortitude, 
and, in a word, anything better than thy own 
mind's self-satisfaction in the things which it 
enables thee to do according to right reason, 
and in the condition that is assigned to thee 
without thy own choice ; if, I say, thou seest 



62 THOUGHTS OF THE EMrSROB 

anything better than this, turn to it with all 
thy soul, and enjoy that which thou hast found 
to be the best. But if nothing appears to be 
better than the deity wliich is planted in thee, 
which has subjected to itself all thy appetites, 
and carefully examines all the impressions, and, 
as Socrates said, has detached itself from the 
persuasions of sense, and has submitted itself 
to the gods, and cares for mankind ; if thou 
findest everything else smaller and of less value 
than this, give place to nothing else, for if thou 
dost once diverge and incline to it, thou wilt 
no longer without distraction be able to give 
the preference to that good thing which is thy 
proper possession and thy own ; for it is not 
right that anything of any other kind, such as 
praise from the many, or power, or enjoyment 
of pleasure, should come into competition with 
that which is rationally and politically good. 
All these things, even though they may seem 
to adapt themselves [to the better things] iu a 
small degree, obtain the superiority all at once, 
and carry us away. But do thou, I say, simply 
and freely choose the better, and hold to it — 
But that wbich is useful is the better. — Well 
then, if it is useful to thee as a rational being, 
keep to it ; but if it is only useful to thee as an 
animal, say so, and maintain thy judgment 
without arrogance : only take care that thou 
makest the inquiry by a sure method. 

7. Never value anything as profitable to thy- 
self which shall compel thee to break thy prom- 
ise, to lose thy self. respect, to hate any man, to 
suspect, to curse, to act the hypocrite, to desire 
anything which needs walls and curtains : for 
he who has preferred to everything else his own 
intelligence, and the daemon [within him] and 
the worship of its excellence, acts no tragic 
part, does not groan, will not need either soli- 
tude or much company ; and, what is chief of all, 
he will live without either pursuing or flying 
from [life] ; but whether for a longer or a shorter 



M. AtfUELtUS ANTOmNTiS. 62 

time he shall have the soul inclosed in the body, 
he cares not at all ; for even if he must depart 
immediately, he will go as readily as if he were 
going to do anything else which can be done 
with decency and order ; taking care of this 
only all through life, that his thoughts turn not 
away from anything which belongs to an intel- 
ligent animal and a member of a civil commu- 
nity. 

8. In the mind of one who is chastened and 
purified thou wilt find no corrupt matter, nor 
impurity, nor any sore skinned over. Nor is 
his life incomplete when fate overtakes him, as 
one may say of an actor who leaves the stage 
before ending and finishing the play. Besides, 
there is in him nothing servile, nor affected, 
nor too closely bound [to other things] , nor yet 
detached [from other things], nothing worthy 
of blame, nothing which seeks a hiding-place. 

9. Reverence the faculty which produces 
opinion. On this faculty it entirely depends 
whether there shall exist in thy ruling part any 
opinion inconsistent with nature and the con- 
stitution of the rational animal. And this 
faculty promises freedom from hasty judgment, 
and friendship towards man, and obedience to 
the gods. 

10. Throwing away then all things, hold to 
these only which are few ; and besides bear in 
mind that every man lives only this present 
time, which is an indivisible point, and that all 
the rest of his life is either past or it is uncer- 
tain. Short then is the time which every man 
lives, and small the nook of the earth where he 
lives ; and short too the longest posthumous 
fame, and even this only continued by a succes- 
sion of poor human beings, who will very soon 
die, and who know not even themselves, much 
less him who died long ago. 

11. To the aids which have been mentioned 
let this one still be added : — Make for thyself 
a definition or description of the thing which 



04 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROU- 

is presented to thee, so as to see distinctly what 
kind of a thing it is in its substance, in its 
nudity, in its complete entirety, and tell thyself 
its proper name, and the names of the things of 
wliich it has been compounded, and into which 
it will be resolved. For nothing is so produc- 
tive of elevation of mind as to be able to examine 
methodically and truly every object which is 
presented to thee in life, and always to look at 
things so as to see at the same time what kind of 
universe this is, and what kind of use everything 
performs in it, and what value everything has 
with reference to the whole, and what with ref- 
erence to man, who is ,a citizen of the highest 
city, of which all other cities are like families ; 
what each thing is, and of what it is composed, 
and how long it is the nature of this thing to 
endure which now makes an impression on me, 
and what virtue I have need of with respect to 
it, such as gentleness, manliness, truth, fidelity, 
simplicity, contentment, and the rest. Where- 
fore, on every occasion a man should say : this 
comes from God ; and this is according to the 
opportunity f and spinning of the thread of 
destiny, and such-like coincidence and chance : 
and this is from one of the same stock, and a 
kinsman and partner, one who knows not how- 
ever what is according to his nature. But I 
know ; for this reason I behave towards him 
according to the natural law of fellowship with 
benevolence and justice. At the same time, 
however, in things indifferent I attempt to as- 
certain the value of each. 

12. If thou workest at that which is before 
thee, following right reason seriously, vigorously, 
calmly, without allowing anything else to dis- 
tract thee, but keeping thy divine part pure, as 
if thou shouldst be bound to give it back imme- 
diately; if thou lioldestto this, expecting nothing, 
fearing nothing, but satisfied with thy present ac- 
tivity according to nature, and with heroic truth 
jin._ every word and sound which thou utterest, 



Jf. AURELIU8 AKtONINUa. 65 

thou wilt live happy. And there is no man 

who is able to prevent this. 

13. As physicians have always their instru- 
ments and knives ready for cases which suddenly 
require their skill, so do thou have principles 
ready for the understanding of things divine and 
human, and for doing everythhig, even the 
smallest, with a recollection of the bond which 
unites the divine and human to one another. 
For neither wilt thou do anything well which 
pertains to man without at the same time having 
a reference to things divine ; nor the contrary. 

14. No longer wander at hazard ; for neither 
wilt thou read thy own memoirs, nor the acts of 
the ancient Romans and Hellenes, and the selec- 
tions from books which thou wast reserving for 
thy old age. Hasten then to the end which 
thou hast before thee, and, throwing away idle 
hopes, come to thy own aid, if thou carest at all 
for thyself, while it is in thy power. 

15. They know not how many things are sig- 
nified by the words stealing, sowing, buying, 
keeping quiet, seeing what ought to be done; 
for this is not done by the eyes, but by another 
kind of vision. 

16. Body, soul, intelligence : to the body be- 
long sensations, to the soul appetites, to the 
intelligence principles. To receive the impres- 
sions of forms by means of appearances belongs 
even to animals ; to be pulled by the strings of 
desire belongs both to wild beasts and to men 
who have made themselves into women, and to 
a Phalaris and a Nero : and to have the intelli- 
gence that guides to the things which appear 
suitable belongs also to those who do not believe 
in the gods, and who betray their country, and 
do their impure deeds when they have shut the 
doors. If then everything else is common to all 
that I have mentioned, there remains that which 
is peculiar to the good man, to be pleased and 
content with what happens, and with the thread 
which is spun for him ; and not to defile th© 



66 



THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROB 



divinity which is planted in liis breast, nor dis- 
turb it by a crowd of images, but to preserve it 
tranquil, following it obediently as a god, 
neither saying anything contrary to the truth, 
nor doing anything contrary to justice. And if 
all men refuse to believe that he lives a simple, 
modest, and contented life, he is neither angry 
with any of them, nor does he deviate from the 
way which leads to the end of life, to which a 
man ought to come pure, tranquil, ready to de- 
part, and without any compulsion perfectly 
reconciled to his lot. 



M. AUIIELIUS ANTONINUS. &f 



That which rules within, when it is according 
to nature, is so affected with respect to the 
events which happen, that it always easily adapts 
itself to that which is possible and is presented 
to it. For it requires no definite material, but 
it moves towards its purpose, under certain con- 
ditions however ; and it makes a material for 
itself out of that which opposes it, as fire lays 
hold of what falls into it, by which a small light 
would have been extinguished: but when the 
fire is strong,it soon appropriates to itself the 
matter which is heaped on it, and consumes it, 
and rises higher by means of this very material. 

2. Let no act be done without a purpose, nor 
otherwise than according to the perfect princi- 
ples of art. 

3. Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in 
the country, sea-shores, and mountains ; and 
thou too are wont to desire such things very much. 
But this is altogether a mark of the most com- 
mon sort of men, for it is in thy power whenever 
thou shalt choose to retire into thyself. For 
nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom 
from trouble does a man retire than into his own 
soul, particularly when he has within him such 
tlioughts that by looking into them he is imme- 
diately in perfect tranquillity ; and I affirm that 
tranquillity is nothing else than the good orders 
ing of the mind. Constantly then give to thyself 
this retreat, and renew thyself ; and let thy 
principles be brief and fundamental, which, as 
soon as thou shalt recur to them, will be suffi- 
cient to cleanse the soul completely, and to send 
thee back free from all discontent with, the 



68 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEEOB 

things to which thou returnest. For with what 
art thou discontented ? With the badness of 
men ? Recall to thy mind this conclusion, that 
rational animals exist for one another, and that 
to endure is a part of justice, and that men do 
wrong involuntarily ; and consider how many 
already, after mutual enmity, suspicion, hatred, 
and fighting, have been stretched dead, reduced 
to ashes ; and be quiet at last. — But perhaps thou 
art dissatisfied with that which is assigned to thee 
out of the universe. — Recall to thy recollection 
this alternative ; either there is providence of 
atoms [fortuitous concurrence of things] ; or re- 
member the arguments by which it has been 
proved that the world is a kind of political com- 
munity [and be quiet at last]. — But perhaps 
corporeal things will still fasten upon thee. — Con- 
sider then further that the mind mingles not 
with the breath, whether moving gently or vio- 
lently, when it has once drawn itself apart and 
discovered its own power, and think also of all 
that thou hast heard and assented to about pain 
and pleasure [and be quiet at last]. — But perhaps 
the desire of the thing called fame will torment 
thee — See how soon everything is forgotten, and 
look at the chaos of infinite time on each side 
of [the present], and the emptiness of applause, 
and the changeableness and want of judgment 
in those who pretend to give praise, and the 
narrowness of the space within which it is cir- 
cumscribed [and be quiet at last]. For the 
whole earth is a point, and how small a nook in 
it is this thy dwelling, and how few are there 
in it, and what kind of people are they who will 
praise thee. 

This then remains : Remember to retire into 
this little territory of thy own, and above all do 
not distract or strain thyself, but be free, and 
look at things as a man, as a human being, as a 
citizen, as a mortal. But among the things readi- 
est to thy hand to which thou shalt turn, let 
there be these, which are two. One is that 



X, AUBELIUS ANTONINUS. 60 

things do not toucli the soul, for they are exteiv 
nal and remain immovable ; but our perturba- 
tions come only from the opinion which is within. 
The other is that all these things whicli thou 
seest change immediately and will no longer be ; 
and constantly bear in mind how many of these 
changes thou hast already witnessed. The uni- 
verse is transformation : life is opinion. 

4. If our intellectual part is common, the rea- 
son also, in respect of which we are rational be- 
ings, is common : if this is so, common also is 
the reason which commands us what to do, and 
what not to do ; if this is so, there is a common 
law also ; if this is so, we are fellow-citizens ; if 
this is so, we are members of some political com- 
munity ; if this is so, the world is in a manner a 
state. For of what other common political 
community will any one say that the whole hu- 
man race are members ? And from thence, from 
this common political community comes also our 
very intellectual faculty and reasoning faculty 
and our capacity for law; or whence do they 
come ? For as my earthly part is a portion giv- 
en to me from certain earth, and that which is 
watery from another element, and that which is 
hot and fiery from some peculiar source (for 
nothing comes out of that which is nothing, as 
nothing also returns to non-existence), so also 
the intellectual part comes from some source. 

5. Death is such as generation is, a mystery 
of nature ; a composition out of the same ele- 
ments, and a decomposition into the same ; and 
altogether not a thing of which any man should 
be ashamed, for it is conformable to [the nature 
of] a reasonable animal, and not contrary to 
the reason of our constitution. 

6. It is natural that these things should be 
done by such persons, it is a matter of neces- 
sity ; and if a man will not have it so, he will 
not allow a fig-tree to have juice. But by all 
means bear this in mind, that within a very 
fhort tiac^e both thou and he will be dead \ an(l 



70 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROlt 

soon not even your names will be left behind. 

7. Take away thy opinion, and then there is 
taken away the complaint, "I have been harm- 
ed." Take away the complaint, "I have been 
harmed," and the harm is taken away. 

8. That which does not make a man worse 
than he was, also does not make his life worse, 
nor does it harm him either from without or 
from within. 

9. The nature of that which is [universally] 
useful has been compelled to do this. 

10. Consider that everything which happens, 
happens justly, and if thou observest carefully, 
thou wilt find it to be so. I do not say only 
with respect to the continuity of the series of 
things, but with respect to what is just, and as 
if it were done by one who assigns to each 
thing its value. Observe then as thou hast 
begun ; and whatever thou doest, do it in con- 
junction with this, the being good, and in the 
sense in which a man is properly understood to 
be good. Keep to this in every action. 

11. Do not have such an opinion of things 
as he has who does thee wrong, or such as he 
wishes thee to have, but look at them as they 
are in truth. 

12. A man should always have these two 
rules in readiness ; the one, to do only what- 
ever the reason of the ruling and legislating 
faculty may suggest for the use of men ; the 
other, to change thy opinion, if there is any 
one at hand who sets thee right and moves 
thee from any opinion. But this change of 
opinion must proceed only fi-om a certain per- 
suasion as of what is just or of common advan- 
tage, and the like, not because it appears pleas- 
ant or brings reputation. 

13. Hast thou reason ? I have. — Why then 
dost not thou use it? For if this does its own 
work, what else dost thou wish ? 

14. Thou existest as a part. Thou shalt dis- 
appear in that which produced thee ', but rath^y 



M. ATTRELIUS Alf^TOmNUS. 71 

thou shalt be received back into its seminal 
principle by transmutation. 

15. Many grains of frankincense on the same 
altar : one falls before, another falls after ; but it 
makes no difference. 

16. Within ten da3^s thou wilt seem a god to 
those to whom thou art now a beast and an ape, 
if thou wilt return to thy principles and the wor- 
ship of reason. 

17. Do not act as if thou wert going to live 
ten thousand years Death hangs over thee. 
While thou livest, while it is in thy power, bo 
good. 

18. How much trouble he avoids who does not 
look to see what his neighbor says or does or 
thinks, but only to what he does himself, that it 
may be just and pure ; or as Agathon f says, 
look not round at the depraved morals of others, 
but run straight along the line without deviat- 
ing from it. 

19. He who has a vehement desire for posthu- 
mous fame does not consider that every one of 
those who remember him will himself also die 
very soon ; then again also they who have suc- 
ceeded them, until the whole remembrance shall 
have been extinguished as it is transmitted 
through men whe foolishly admire and perish. 
But suppose that those who will remember are 
even immortal, and that the remembrance will be 
immortal, what then is this to thee ? And I say 
not what is it to the dead, but what is it to the 
living. What is praise, except f indeed so far 
as it has f a certain utility ? For thou now 
rejectest unseasonably the gift of nature, cling- 
ing to something else . . . f . 

20. Everything which is in any way beautiful 
is beautiful in itself, and terminates in itself, not 
having praise as part of itself. Neither worse 
then nor better is i\ thing made by being praised. 
I affirm this also oi' the things which are called 
beautiful by the vulgar, for example, material 
things and works of art. That which is really 



72 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR. 

beautiful has no need of anything; not more 
than law, not more than truth, not more than 
benevolence or modesty. Which of these things 
is beautiful because it is praised, or spoiled by 
being blamed? Is such a thing as an emerald 
made worse than it was, if it is not praised ? or 
gold, ivory, purple, a lyre, a little knife, a flower, 
a shrub ? 

21. If souls continue to exist, how does the 
air contain them from eternity ? — But how does 
the earth contain the bodies of those who have 
been buried from time so remote ? For as here 
the mutation of these bodies after a certain con- 
tinuance, whatever it may be, and their disso- 
lution make room for other dead bodies ; so the 
souls which are removed into the air after sub- 
sisting for some time are transmuted, and dif- 
fused, and assume a fiery nature by being re- 
ceived into the seminal intelligence of the 
universe, and in this way make room for the 
fresh souls which come to dwell there. And 
this is the answer which a man might give on 
the hypothesis of souls continuing to exist. But 
we must not only think of the number of bodies 
which are thus buried, but also of the number 
of animals which are daily eaten by us and the 
other animals. For what a number is consumed, 
and thus in a manner buried in the bodies ol 
those who feed on them ? And nevertheless this 
earth receives them by reason of the changes 
[of these bodies] into blood, and the transform- 
ations into the aerial or the fiery element. 

What is the investigation into the truth in 
this matter ? The division into that which is 
material and that which is the cause of form 
[the formal], (vii. 29.) 

• 22. Do not be whirled about, but in every 
movement have respect to justice, and on the 
occasion of every impression maintain the fac- 
ulty of comprehension [or understanding] . 

23. Everything harmonizes with me, which 
S9 harmonious to thee, O Universe. Nothing for 



M. AURELIU8 ANTONINUS. 73 

me is too early nor too late, which is in due 
time for thee. Everything is fruit to me which 
thy seasons bring, O Nature : from thee are all 
things, in thee are all things, to thee all things 
return. The poet says, Dear city of Cecrops ; 
and wilt not thou say, Dear city of Zeus? 

24. Occupy thyself with few things, says the 
philosopher, if thou wouldst be tranquil. — But 
consider if it would not be better to say, Do 
what is necessary, and whatever the reason of 
the animal which is naturally social requires, 
and as it requires. For this brings not only the 
tranquillity which comes from doing well, but 
also that which comes from doing few things. 
For the greatest part of what we say and do 
being unnecessar}^, if a man takes this away, 
he will have more leisure and less uneasiness. 
Accordingly on every occasion a man should ask 
himself, is this one of the unnecessary things? 
Now a man should take away not only unnec- 
essary acts, but also unnecessary thoughts, for 
thus superfluous acts will not follow after. 

25. Try how the life of the good man suits 
thee, the life of him who is satisfied with his por- 
tion out of the whole, and satisfied with bis own 
just acts and benevolent disposition. 

26. Hast thou seen those things ? Look also 
at these. Do not disturb thyself. Make thy- 
self all simplicity. Does any one do wrong ? 
It is to himself that he does the wrong. Has 
anything happened to thee ? Weil, out of the 
universe from the beginning everything which 
happens has been apportioned and spun out to 
thee. In a word, thy life is short. Thou must 
turn to profit the present by the aid of reason 
and justice. Be sober in thy relaxation 

^T. Either it is a well arranged universe ^ or 
a chaos huddled together, but still a universe. 
But can a certain order subsist in thee, and dis- 
order in the All ? And tliis too when all things 

^ Antoninus here uses the word KdufMs both in the sens* 
of the Universe and of Order ; and it is difficult to express 
bis meaning, 



74 THOUGHTS GF THE EMPEROR 

are so separated and diffused and sympathetic. 

28. A black character, a womanish character, 
a stubborn character, bestial, childish, animal, 
stupid, counterfeit, scurrilous, fraudulent, tyran- 
nical. 

29. If he is a stranger to the universe who 
does not know what is in it, no less is he a 
stranger who does not know what is going on in 
it. He is a runaway, who flies from social rea- 
son ; he is blind, who shuts the eyes of the un- 
derstanding ; he is poor, who has need of an- 
other, and has not from himself all things which 
are useful for life. He is an abscess on the 
universe who withdraws and separates himself 
from the reason of our common nature through 
being displeased with the thi:igs which happen, 
for the same nature produces this, and has pro- 
duced thee too : he is a piece rent asunder from 
the state, who tears his own soul from that of 
reasonable animals, which is one. 

30. The one is a philosopher without a tunic, 
and the other without a book: here is another 
half naked : Bread I have not, he says, and I 
abide by reason — And I do not get the means 
of living out of my learning,! and I abide [by 
my reason]. 

31. Love the art, poor as it may be, which 
thou hast learned, and be cor tent with it ; and 
pass through the rest of life like one who has 
intrusted to the gods with his whole soul all 
that he has, making thyself neither the tyrant 
nor the slave of any man. 

32. Consider, for example, the times of Ves- 
pasian. Thou wilt see all these things, people 
marrying, bringing up children, sick, dying, 
warring, feasting, trafficking, cultivating the 
ground, flattering, obstinately arrogant, sus- 
pecting, plotting, wishing for some to die, 
grumbling about the present, loving, heaping 
up treasure, desiring consulship, kingly power. 

[ Well then, that life of these people no longer 
exists at all. Again remove to the time of 
Trajan. AgaLn* allis the same. Their lifo too 



M. AURELtUS ANTOntNUS. 75 

is gone. In like manner view also the other 
epochs of time and of whole nations, and see 
how many after great efforts soon fell and were 
resolved into the elements. But chiefly thou 
shouldst think of those whom thou hast thyself 
known distracting themselves about idle things, 
neglecting to do what was in accordance with 
their proper constitution, and to hold firmly to 
this and to be content with it. And herein it is 
necessary to remember that the attention given 
to everything has its proper value and propor- 
tion. For thus thou wilt not be dissatisfied, if 
thou appliest thyself to smaller matters no fur- 
ther than is fit. 

33. The words which were formerly familiar 
are now antiquated : so also the names of those 
who were famed of old, are now in a manner 
antiquated, Camillus, Caeso, Volesus, Leon- 
natus, and a little after also Scipio and Cato, 
then Augustus, then also Hadrianus and Anto- 
ninus. For all things soon pass away and become 
a mere tale, and complete oblivion soon buries 
them. And I say this of those who have shone 
in a wondrous way. For the rest, as soon as 
they have breathed out their breath, they are 
gone, and no man speaks of them. And, to 
conclude the matter, v/hat is even and eternal 
remembrance ? A mere nothing. What then is 
that about which we ought to employ our 
serious pains ? This one thing, thoughts just, 
and acts social, and words which never lie, and 
a disposition which gladly accepts all that hap- 
pens, as necessary, as usual, as flowing from i 
principle and source of the same kind. 

34. Willingly give thyself up to Clotho [one 
of the fates], allowing her to spin thy thread f 
into whatever things she pleases. 

35. Everything is only for a day, both that 
which remembers and that which is remem- 
bered. 

36. Observe constantly that all things take 
place by change, and accustom thyself to con- 
sider that the nature of the Universe loves noth 



76 TSOTTQHTS OF THE EMPEBOU 

ing so much as to change the things which are 
and to make new things like them. For every- 
thing that exists is in a manner the seed of that 
which will be. But thou art thinking only of 
seeds which are cast into the earth or into a 
womb : but this is a very vulgar notion. 

37. Thou wilt soon die, and thou art not yet 
Bimple, nor free from perturbations, nor without 
suspicion of being hurt by external things, nor 
kindly disposed towards all; nor dost thou yet 
place wisdom only in acting justly. 

38. Examine men's ruling orincipies, even 
those of the wise, what kind of things they avoid, 
and what kind they pursue. 

39. What is evil to thee does not subsist in 
the ruling principle of another ; nor yet in any 
turning and mutation of thy corporeal covering. 
Where is it then ? It is in that part of thee in 
which subsists the power of forming opinions 
about evils. Let this power then not form [such] 
opinions, and all is well. And if that which is 
nearest to it, the poor body, is cut, burnt, filled 
with matter and rottenness, nevertheless let the 
part which forms opinions about these things be 
quiet, that is, let it judge that nothing is either 
bad or good which can happen equally to the bad 
man and the good. For that which happens 
equally to him who lives contrary to nature and 
to him who lives according to nature, is neither 
according to nature nor contra,ry to nature. 

40. Constantly regard the universe as one liv- 
ing being, having one substance and one soul; 
and observe how all things have reference to one 
perception, the perception of this one living be- 
ing ; and how all things act with one movement; 
and how all things are the co-operating causes of 
all things which exist ; observe too the continu- 
ous spinning of the thread and the contexture of 
the web. 

41. Thou art a little soul bearing about a 
©orpse, as Epictetus used to say. 

42. It is no evil for things to undergo change, 



M. AURELITT8 ANTONINUS. 77 

and no good for things to subsist in consequence 
of change. 

43. Time is like a river made up of the events 
which happen, and a violent stream ; for as soon 
as a thing has been seen, it is carried away, and 
another comes in its place, and this will be car- 
ried away too. 

44. Everything which happens is as familiar 
and well known as the rose in spring and the fruit 
in summer ; for such is disease, and death, and 
calumny, and treachery, and whatever else de- 
lights fools or vexes them. 

45. In the series of things those which follow 
are always aptly fitted to those which have gone 
before ; for this series is not like a mere enumer- 
ation of disjointed things, which has only a nec- 
essary sequence, but it is a rational connection : 
and as all existing things are arranged together 
harmoniously, so the things which come into 
existence exhibit no mere succession, but a 
certain wonderful relationship, (vi. 38. vii. 9.) 

46. Always remember the saying of Heraclitus, 
that the death of earth is to become water, 
and the death of water is to beome air, and 
the death of air is to become fire, and reversely. 
And think too of him who forgets whither the 
way leads, and that men quarrel with that with 
which they are most constantly in communion, 
the reason which governs the universe ; and the 
things which they daily meet with seem to them 
strange : and consider that we ought not to act 
and speak as if we were asleep, for even in sleep, 
we seem to act and speak ; and that f we ought 
not, like children who learn from their parents, 
simply to act and speak as we have been taught.f 

47. If any god told thee that thou shalt die 
(o-morrow or certainly on the day after to-morrow 
thou wouldst not care much whether it was on 
the third day or on the morrow, unless thou wast 
in the higLe-«t degree mean-spirited, — for how 
small is the dlTerence? — so think it no great 
thing to die after as many years as thou canst 
name rather than to-morrow. 



<"'$ THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR 

49. Tiiink continually how many physicians 
'iVQ dead after often contracting their eyebrows 
over the sick ; and liow many astrologers after 
predicting with great pretensions the deaths of 
others; and how many philoscphers after endless 
discourses on death or immortahty ; how many 
heroes after killing thousands ; and how many 
tyrants who have used their power over men's 
lives with terrible insolence as if they were im- 
mortal ; and how many cities are entirely dead, 
so to speak, Helice and Pompeii and Herclanum, 
and others innumerable. — Add to the reckoning 
all whom thou hast known, one after anothero 
One man after burying another has been laid 
out dead, and another buries him ; and all this 
in a short time. To conclude, always observe 
how ephemeral and worthless human things are, 
and what was yesterday a little mucus, to-morrow 
will be a mummy or ashes. Pass then througli 
this little space of time conformably to nature, 
and end thy journey in content, just as an olive 
falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who pro- 
duced it, and thanking the tree on which it 
grew. 

49. Be like the promontory against which the 
waves continually break, but it stands firm and 
tames the fury of the water around it. 

Unhappy am I, because this has happened to 
me — Not so, but Happy am I, though this has 
happened to me, because I continue free from 
pain, neither crushed by the present nor fearing 
the future. For such a thing as this might have 
happened to every man ; but every man would 
not have continued free from pain on such an 
occasion. Why then is that rather a misfortune 
than this a good fortune ? And dost thou in all 
cases call that a man's misfortune, which is not a 
deviation from man's nature? And does a thing 
seem to thee to be a deviation from man's nature, 
when it is not contrary to the will of man's nat- 
ure ? Well, thou knoAvest the will of nature. 
Will then this which has happened prevent thee 



M. A URELl uo AN TONIN US. 79 

from being just, magnanimous, temperate, pru- 
dent, secure against inconsiderate opinions and 
falsehood ; will it prevent thee from having mod- 
esty, freedom, and everything else, by the pres- 
ence of which man's nature obtains all that is its 
own? Remember too on every occasion which 
leads thee to vexation to apply this principle : 
that this is not a misfortune, but that to bear it 
nobly is good fortune. 

50. It is a vulgar, but still a useful help towards 
contempt of death, to pass in review those who 
have tenaciously stuck to life. What more then 
have they gained than those who have died early ? 
Certainly they lie in their tombs somewhere at 
last, Cadicianus, Fabius, Julianus, Lepidus, or 
any one else like them, who have carried out 
many to be buried and then were carried out 
themselves. Altogether the interval is small 
[between birth and death] ; and consider with 
how much trouble, and in company with what 
sort of people and in what a feeble body this in- 
terval is laboriously passed. Do not then con- 
sider life a thing of any value. f For look to the 
immensity of time behind thee, and to the time 
which is before thee, another boundless space. 
In this infinity then what is the difference be- 
tween him who lives three days and him who 
lives three generations ? ^ 

51. Always run to the short way ; and the short 
way is the natural : accordingly say and do 
everything in conformity with the soundest 
reason. For such a purpose frees a man from 
trouble,! and warfare, and all artifice and osten-. 
tatious display. 

2 An allusion to Homer's Nestor who was living at the 
war of Troy among the third generation, like old Parr 
with his hundred and fifty two years, and some others in 
modern times who have beaten Parr by twenty or thirty 
years ; and yet they died at last. The word is rpiyeprivlov 
In Antoninus. Nestor is named rpiyipuv by some writer* ; 
but here perhaps there is an allusion to Homer's Vepiivios 



THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEBOR 



In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, 
let this thought be present — I am rising to the 
work of a human being. Why then am I dis- 
satisfied if I am going to do the things for which 
I exist and for which I was brought into the 
world ? Or have I been made for this, to lie in 
the bedclothes and keep myself warm ? — But 
this is more pleasant — Dost thou exist then to 
take thy pleasure, and not at all for action or 
exertion? Dost thou not see the little plants, 
the little birds, the ants, the spiders, the bees 
working together to put in order their several 
parts of the universe ? And art thou unwilling 
to do the work of a human being, and dost thou 
not make haste to do that which is according to 
thy nature ? — But it is necessary to take rest also 
— It is necessary : however nature has fixed 
bounds to this too : she has fixed bounds both to 
eating and drinking, and yet thou goest beyond 
these bounds, beyond what is sufficient ; yet in 
thy acts it is not so, but thou stoppest short of 
what thou canst do. So thou lovest not thyself, 
for if thou didst, thou wouldst love thy nature 
and her will. But those who love their several 
arts exhaust themselves in working at them, un- 
washed and without food ; but thou vainest thy 
own nature less than the turner values the turn- 
ing art, or the dancer the dancing art, or the 
lover of money values his money, or the vain- 
glorious man his little glory. And such men, 
when they have a violent affection to a thing, 
choose neither to eat nor to sleep rather than to 
perfect the things which they care for. But are 
the acts which concern society more vile in thy . 
•yes and less worthy of thy labor ? 



M. AUBELIUS ANTONINUS. 81 

2. How easy it is to repel and to wipe away 
every impression which is troublesome or unsuit- 
able, and immediately to be in all tranquillity. 

3. Judge every word and deed which is ac- 
cording to nature to be fit for thee ; and be not 
diverted by the blame which follows from any 
people nor by their words, but if a thing is good 
to be done or said, do not consider it unworthy 
of thee. For those persons have their peculiar 
leading principle and follow their peculiar move- 
ment ; which things do not thou regard, but go 
straight on, following thy own nature and the 
common nature ; and the way of both is one. 

4. I go through the things which happen ac- 
cording to nature until I shall fall and rest, 
breathing out my breath into that element out 
of which I daily draw it in, and falling upon that 
earth out of which my father collected the seed, 
and my mother the blood, and my nurse the 
milk ; out of which during so many years I have 
been supplied with food and drink ; which bears 
me when I tread on it and abuse it for so many 
purposes. 

6. Thou sayest. Men cannot admire the sharp- 
ness of thy wits — Be it so ; but there are many 
other things of which thou canst not say, I am 
not formed for them by nature. Show those 
qualities then which are altogether in thy power, 
sincerity, gravity, endurance of labor, aversion 
to pleasure, contentment with thy portion and 
with few things, benevolence, frankness, no love 
of superfluity, freedom from trifling, magnanim- 
ity. Dost thou not see how many qualities thou 
art immediately able to exhibit, in which there 
is no excuse of natural incapacity and unfitness, 
and yet thou still remainest voluntarily below 
the mark ? or art thou compelled through being 
defectively furnished by nature to murmur, and 
to be stingy, and to flatter, and to find fault with 
thy poor body, and to try to please men, and to 
make great display, and to be so restless in thy 
mind? No by the gods: but thou mightest 
6 



82 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEEOB 

have been delivered from these things long ago. 
Only if in truth thou canst be charged with 
being rather slow and dull of comprehension, 
thou must exert thyself about this also, notneg- 
lectiug it nor yet taking pleasure in thy dulness. 

6. One man, wdien he has done a service to 
another, is ready to set it down to his account as 
a favor conferred. Another is not ready to do 
this, but still in his own mind lie thinks of the 
man as his debtor, and he knows what he has 
done. A third in a manner does not even know 
what he has done, but he is like a vine which has 
produced grapes, and seeks for nothing more after 
it has once produced its proper fruit. As a horse 
when he has run, a dog when he has tracked the 
game, a bee when it lias made the honey, so a 
man when he has done a good act, does not call 
out for others to come and see, but he goes on to 
another act, as a vine goes on to produce again, 
the grapes in season — Must a man then be one 
of these, who in a manner act thus without ob- 
serving it ? — Yes — But this very thing is nec- 
essary, the observation of what a man is doing : 
for, it may be said, it is chiiracteristic of the 
social animal to perceive that he is working in a 
social manner, and indeed to wisli that his social 
partner also should perceive it — It is true what 
thou sayest, but thou dost not rightly under- 
stand what is now said : and for this reason thou 
wdlt become one of those of \A'hom I spoke before, 
for even they are misled by a certain show of 
reason. But if thou wilt choose to understand 
the meaning of what is said, do not fear that for 
this reason thou wilt omit any social act. 

7. A prayer of the Athenians; Rain, rain, O 
dear Zeus, down on the ploughed fields of the 
Athenians and on the plains. — In truth we 
ought not to praj'- at all, or v/e ought to pray in 
this simple and noble fashion. 

8. Just as w^e must understand when it is said, 
That ^sculapius prescribed to this man horse* 
exercise, or bathing in cold water or going with* 



M. AUBELIU8 ANTONINUS. 83 

out shoes ; so we must understand it when it is 
said, That the nature of the universe prescribed 
to this man disease or mutilation or loss or any- 
tliing else of the kind. For in the first case Pre- 
scribed means something like this : he prescribed 
this for this man as a thing adapted to procure 
liealth ; and in the second case it means, That 
which happens ^ to [or, suits] every man is fixed 
in a manner for him suitably to his destiny. For 
this is what we mean when we say that things are 
suitable to us, as the workman say of squared 
stones in walls or the pyramids, that they are 
suitable, when they fit them to one another in 
some kind of connection. For there is altogether 
one fitness [or, harmony]. And as the universe 
is made up out of all bodies to be such a body as 
it is, so out of all existing causes necessity [des- 
tiny] is made up to be such a cause as it is. And 
even those who are completely ignorant under- 
stand what I mean, for they say, It [necessity, 
destiny] brought this to such a person. — This 
then was brought and this was prescribed to 
him. Let us then receive these things, as well as 
those which JEsculapius prescribes. Many as a 
matter of course even among his prescriptions are 
disagreeable, but we accept them in the hope of 
health. Let the perfecting and accomplishment 
of the things which the common nature judges to 
be good, be judged by thee to be of the same kind 
as thy health. And so accept everything which 
happens, even if it seem disagreeable, because it 
leads to this, to the health of the universe and to 
the prosperity and felicity of Zeus [the universe]. 
For he would not have brought on any man what 
lie has brought, if it were not useful for the 
whole. Neither does the nature of anything, 
whatever it may be, cause anything which is not 
suitable to that which is directed by it. For two 
reasons then it is risfht to be content with that 



^ In this section there is a play on the meaning of 



84 TSOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR 

whicli happens to thee ; the one, because it was 
done for thee and prescribed for thee, and in a 
manner had reference to thee, origuially from the 
most ancient canses spun with thy destiny; and 
the other, because even that which comes sever- 
ally to every man is to the power which adminis-' 
ters the universe a cause of felicity and perfection, 
nay even of its very continuance. For the in- 
tegrity of the whole is mutilated, if thou cuttest 
off anything whatever from the conjunction and 
the continuity either of the parts or of the causes. 
And thou dost cut off, as far as it is in thy power, 
when thou art dissatisfied, and in a manner triest 
to put anything out of the way. 

9. Be not disgusted, nor discouraged, nor dis- 
satisfied, if thou dost not succeed in doing every- ' 
thing according to right principles ; but when thou 
hast failed, return back again, and be content if 
the greater part of what thou doest is consistent 
with man's nature, and love this to which thou re- 
turnest ; and do not return to philosophy as if 
she were a master, but act like those who have 
sore eyes and apply a bit of sponge and egg, or 
as another applies a plaister, or drenching with 
water. For thus thou wilt not fail to f obey 
reason, and thou wilt repose in it. And remem- 
ber that philosophy requires only the things 
which thy nature requires ; but thou wowldst 
have something else which is not according i^ 
nature — It may be objected, Why what is moi\ 
agreeable than this [which I am doing] ? — But 
is not this the very reason why pleasure deceives 
Us ? And consider if magnanimity, freedom, 
simplicity, equanimity, piety, are not more 
agreeable. For what is more agreeable than 
wisdom itself, when thou thinkest of the security 
and the happy course of all things which depend 
on the faculty of understanding and knowledge ? 

10. Things are in such a kind of envelopment 
that they have seemed to philosophers, not a few 
nor those common philosophers, altogether un- 
intelligible ; nay, even to the Stoics themselves 



M. A UHMLItTS A KTOmKUS. 8 5 

they seem difficult to understand. And all our 
assent is changeable ; for where is the man who 
never changes ? Carr}' thy thoughts then to the 
objects themselves, and consider how short-lived 
they are and worthless, and that they may be in 
the possession of a filthy wretch or a whore or a 
robber. Then turn to the morals of those who 
live with thee, and it is hardly possible to endure 
even the most agreeable of them, to say nothing 
of a man being hardly able to endure himself. 
In such darkness then, and dirt and in so con- 
stant a flux both of substance and of time, and 
of motion and of things moved, what there is 
worth being highly prized or even an object of 
serious pursuit, I cannot imagine. But on the 
contrary it is a man's duty to comfort himself, 
and to wait for the natural dissolution and not 
to be vexed at the delay, but to rest in these 
principles only : the one, that nothing will hap- 
pen to me which is not conformable to the nature 
of the universe ; and the other, that it is in my 
power never to act contrary to my God and 
daemon : for there is no man who will compel 
me to this. 

11. About wnat I am now employing my own 
soul? On every occasion I must ask myself 
this question, and inquire, what have I now in 
this part of me which they call the ruling prin- 
ciple ? and whose soul have I now ? that of a 
child, or of a young man, or of a feeble woman, 
or of a tyrant, or of a domestic animal, or of a 
wild beast ? 

12. What kind of things those are which ap- 
pear good to the many, we may learn from this. 
For if any man should conceive certain things as 
being really good, such as prudence, temperance, 
justice, fortitude, he would not after having first 
conceived these endure to listen to anything! 
which should not be in harmony with what is 
really good.f But if a man has first conceived 
as good the things which appear to the many to 
be good, he will listen and readily receive aa 



§6 THOUGHTS OP THE EMPEUOB. 

very applicable that which was said by the comic 
writer, f Thus even the many perceive the dif- 
ference.! For were it not so, this saying would 
not offend and would not be rejected [in the 
first case], while we receive it when it is said of 
wealth, and of the means which further luxury 
and fame, as said fitly and wittily. Go on then 
and ask if we should value and think those 
things to be good, to which after their first con- 
ception in the mind the words of the comic 
writer might be aptly applied — that he who has 
them, through pure abundance has not a place to 
ease himself in. 

13. I am composed of the formal and the ma- 
terial ; and neither of them will perish into 
non-existence, as neither of them came into 
existence out of non-existence. Every part of 
me then will be reduced by change into son <3 
part of the universe, and that again will chang 
into another part of the universe and so on for- 
ever. And by consequence of such a change I 
too exist, and those who begot me, and so on for- 
ever in the other direction. For nothing hin- 
ders us from saying so, even if the universe is 
administered according to definite periods [of 
revolution]. 

14. Reason and the reasoning art [philosophy] 
are powers which are sufficiei>t for themselves 
and for their own works. They move then 
from a first principle which is their own, and 
they make their way to the end which is pro- 
posed to them ; and this is the reason why such 
acts are named Catorthoseis or right acts, which 
word signifies that they proceed by the right 
road. 

15. None of these things ought to be called a 
man's, which do not belong to a man, as man. 
They are not required of a man, nor does man's 
nature promise them, nor are they the means of 
man's nature attaining its end. Neither then 
does the end of man lie in these things, nor yet 
that which aids to the accomplishment of this 



M. AUBELIU8 ANTONINUS. 87 

end, and that which aids towards this end is 
that which is good. Besides, if any of these 
things did belong to man, it would not be right 
for a man to despise them and to set himself 
against them ; nor would a man be worthy of 
praise who showed that he did not want these 
things, nor would he who stinted himself in any 
of tliem be good, if indeed these things were 
good. But now the more of these things a man 
deprives himself of, or of other things like them, 
or even when he is deprived of any of them, the 
more patiently he endures the loss, just in the 
same degree he is a better man. 

16. Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such 
also will be the character of thy mind ; for the 
-voul is dyed by the thoughts. Dye it then with a 
c mtinuous series of such thoughts as these : for 
instance, that where a man can live, there he can 
also live well. But he must live in a palace ; 
— well then, he can also live well in a palace. 
And again, consider that for whatever purpose 
each thitig has been constituted, for this it has 
been constituted, and towards this it is carried ; 
audits end is in that towards which it is carried ; 
and where the end is, there also is the advantage 
and the good of each thing. Now the good for 
the reasonable animal is society ; for that we 
are made for society has been shown above. Is it 
not plain that the inferior exist for the sake of the 
superior ? but the things whicli liave life are 
superior to those which have not life, and of those 
which have life the superior are those which have 
reason. 

17. To seek what is impossible is madness : 
and it is impossible that the bad should not do 
something of this kind. 

18. Nothing happens to any man which he is 
not formed by nature to bear. The same things 
happen to another, and either because he does 
not see that they have happened or because he 
would show a great spirit he is firm and re- 
mains unharmed. It is a shame then that ig- 



$8 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEBOR 

norance and conceit should be stronger than 
wisdom. 

19. Things themselves touch not the soul, not 
in the least degree ; nor have they admission to 
the soul, nor can they turn or move the soul : but 
the soul turns and moves itself alone, and what- 
ever judgments it may think proper to make, such 
it makes for itself the things which present them- 
selves to it. 

20. In one respect man is the nearest thing to 
me, so far as I must do good to men and endure 
them. But so far as some men make themselves 
obstacles to my proper acts, man becomes to me 
one of the things which are indifferent, no less 
than the sun or wind or a wild beast. Now it is 
true that these may impede my action, but they 
are no impediments to my affects and disposition, 
which have the power of acting conditionally and 
changing : for the mind converts and changes 
every hindrance to its activity into an aid ; and so 
that which is a hindrance is made a furtherance 
to an act ; and that which is an obstacle on the 
road helps us on this road. 

21. Reverence that which is best in the uni- 
verse ; and this is that which makes use of all 
things and directs all things. And in like man- 
ner also reverence that which is best in thyself ; 
and this is of the same kind as that. For in thy- 
self also, that which makes use of everything 
else, is this, and thy life is directed by this. 

22. That which does no harm to the state, 
does no harm to the citizen. In the case of every 
appearance of harm appl}^ this rule : if the state is 
not harmed by this, neither am I harmed. But 
if the state is harmed, thou must not be angry 
with him who does harm to the state. Show him 
where his error is.f 

23. Often think of the rapidity with which 
things pass by and disappear, both the things 
which are and the things which are produced. 
For substance is like a river in a continual flow, 
and the activities of things are iu constant 



M. AUHELms ANTONINUS. 89 

change, and the causes work in infinite varieties ; 
and there is liardlj anything which stands still. 
And consider this which is near to thee, this 
boundless abyss of the past and of the future in 
which all things disappear. How then is he not 
a fool who is puffed up with such things or 
plagued about them and makes himself misera- 
ble ? for they vex him only for a time, and a 
short time. 

24. Think of the universal substance, of which 
thou hast a very small portion ; and of universal 
time, of which a short and indivisible interval 
has been assigned to thee ; and of that which is 
fixed by destiny, and how small a part of it 
thou art. 

25. Does another do me wrong ? Let him look 
to it. He has his own disposition, his own ac- 
tivity. I now have what the universal natur^ 
wills me to have ; and I do what my nature now 
wills me to do. 

26. Let the part of thy soul which leads and 
governs be undisturbed by the movements in the 
flesh whether of pleasure or of j)ain ; and let it 
not unite with them, but let it circumscribe it- 
self and limit those affects to their parts. But 
when these affects rise up to the mind by virtue 
of that other sympathy that naturally exists in a 
body which is all one, then thou must not strive 
to resist the sensation, for it is natural ; but let 
liot the ruling part of itself add to the sensation 
llio opinion that it is either good or bad. 

27. Live with the gods. And he does live 
wi. h. the gods who constantly shows to them that 
his own soul is satisfied with that which is as- 
signed to him, and that it does all that the dae- 
mon wishes, which Zeus hath given to every 
man for his guardian and guide, a portion of 
himself. And this is every man's understanding 
and reason. 

28. Art th.ou angry with him whose arm-pits 
stink ? art thou angry with him whose mouth 
smells foul? What good will this anger do 



90 THOUGHTS OF TSE EMPEROn 

zhee 7 He has such a mouth, he has such arm- 
pits : it is necessary that such an emanation 
must come from such things — But the man has 
reason, it will be said, and he is able, if "he takes 
pains, to discover wherein he offends — I wish 
thee well of thy discovery. Well then, and 
thou hast reason ; by thy rational faculty stir 
up his rational faculty ; show him his error, 
admonish him. For if he listens, thou wilt cure 
him, and there is no need of anger, [f Neither 
tragic actor nor whore.f]^ 

29. As thou intendest to live when thou art 
gone out, . . so it is in thy power to live here. 
But if men do not permit thee, then get away 
out of life, yet so as if thou wert suffering no 
harm. The house is smoky, and I quit it. Why 
dost thou think that this is any trouble ? But 
so long as nothing of the kind drives me out, I 
remain, am free, and no man shall hinder me 
from doing what I choose ; and I choose to do 
what is according to the nature of the rational 
and social animal. 

30. The intelligence of the universe is social. 
Accordingly it has made the inferior things for 
the sake of the superior, and it has fitted the su- 
perior to one another. Thou seest how it has 
subordinated, co-ordinated and assigned to every- 
thing its proper portion, and has brought to- 
gether into concord with one another the things 
which are the best. 

31. How hast thou behaved hitherto to the 
gods, thy parents, brethren, children, teachers, 
to those who looked after thy infancy, to thy 
friends, kinsfolk, to thy slaves? Consider if 



2 This is imperfect or corrupt, or both. There is also 
something wrong or incomplete in the beginning of S. 29, 
where he says c6s i^eXduv ^vv Bmvotj, whicli Gataker 
translates " as if thou wast about to quit life; " but we can 
not translate i^ekSdsv in that way. Other translations are 
not much more satisfactory. I have translated it literally 
and left it unperfect. 



M. AUBELIUS AKTONINUS 91 

thou hast hitherto behaved to all in such a waj 
that this may be said of thee : — 

Never has wronged a man in deed or word. 

And call to recollection both how many things 
thou hast passed through, and how many things 
thou hast been able to endure : and that the his- 
tory of thy life is now complete and thy service 
is ended: and how many beautiful things thou 
hast seen : and how many pleasures and pains 
thou hast despised ; and how many things called 
honorable thou hast spurned; and to how many 
ill-minded folks thou hast shown a kind disposi- 
tion. 

32. Why do unskilled and ignorant souls dis- 
turb him who has skill and knowledge? What 
soul then has skill and knowledge ? That which 
knows beginning and end, and knows the reason 
which pervades all substance and through all 
time by fixed periods [revolutions] administers 
the universe. 

33. Soon, very soon, thou wilt be ashes, or a 
skeleton, and either a name or not even a name ; 
but name is sound and echo. And the things 
which are much valued in life are empty and 
rotten and trifling, and [like] little dogs biting 
one another, and little children quarrelling, 
laughing, and then straightway wee[)ing. But 
fidelity and modesty and justice and truth are 
fled 

Up to Olympus from the wide-spread earth. 

What tlien is there which still detains thee here ? 
if the objects of sense are easily changed and 
never stand still, and the organs of perception 
are dull and easily receive false impressions ; 
and the poor soul itself is an exhalation from 
blood. But to have good repute amidst such a 
world as this is an empty thing. Why then 
dost thou not wait in tranquillity for thy end, 
whether it is extinction or removal to ^mother 



92 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR 

state? And until that time comes, what is 
sufficient? Why, what else than to venerate 
the gods and bless them, and to do good to men, 
and to practise tolerance and self-restraint;^ 
but as to everything which is beyond the limits 
of the poor flesh and breath, to remember that 
this is neither thine nor in thy power. 

34. Thou canst pass thy life in an equable 
flow of happiness, if thou canst go by the right 
way, and think and act in the right way. These 
two things are common both to the soul of god 
and to the soul of man, and to the soul of every 
rational being, not to be hindered by another ; 
and to hold good to consist in the disposition to 
justice and the practice of it, and in this to let 
thy desire find its termination. 

35. If this is neither my own badness, nor an 
effect of my own badness, and the common 
weal is not injured, why am I troubled about 
it ? and what is the harm to the common weal ? 

36. Do not be carried along inconsiderately 
by the appearance of things, but give help [to 
all] according to thy ability and their fitness ; 
and if they should have sustained loss in matters 
which are indifferent, do not imagine this to be 
a damage. For it is a bad habit. But as the 
old man when he went away asked back his 
foster-child's top, remembering that it was a top, 
60 do thou in this case also. 

When thou art calling out on the Rostra, hast 
thou forgotten man, what these things are? — 
Yes ; but they are objects of great concern to 
these people — Wilt thou too then be made a 
fool for these things ? — I was once a fortunate 
man, but I lost it, I know not how. — But for- 
tunate means that a man has assigned to him- 
self a good fortune : — and a good fortune is good 



' This is the Stoic precept ivixov Ka.1 6.iri\j/ov. The 
first part teaches us to be content with men and things as 
they are. The second part teaches lis the virtua of self- 
testraint, or the government of our passions. 



if. AUBELIUS ANTONINUS. 93 

disposition of the soul, good emotions, good ac- 
tions.* 

* This section is unintelligible. Many of the words may 
be corrupt, and the general purport of the section cannot be 
discovered. Perhaps several things have been improperly 
joined in one section. I have translated it nearly literally. 
Different translators give the section a different turn, and 
the critics have tried to mend what they cannot understand. 



94 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR 



VI. 

The substance of the universe is obedient 
and compliant; and the reason which governs it 
has in itself no cause for doing evil, for it has 
no malice, nor does it do evil to anything, nor is 
anything harmed by it. But all things are 
made and perfected according to this reason. 

2. Let it make no difference to thee Avhether 
thou art cold or warm, if thou art doing thy 
duty ; and whether thou art drowsy or satisfied 
with sleep ; and whether ill-spoken of or praised ; 
and whether dying or doing something else. 
For it is one of the acts of life, this act by which 
we die : it is sufficient then in this act also to do 
well what we have in hand.- 

3. Look within. Let neither the peculiar 
quality of anything nor its value escape thee. 

4. All existing things soon change, and they 
will either be reduced to vapor, if indeed all 
substance is one, or they will be dispersed. 

5. The reason which governs knows what its 
own disposition is, and what it does, and on 
what material it works. 

6. The best way of avenging thyself is not to 
become like the wrong-doer. 

7. Take pleasure in one thing and rest in it, 
in passing from one social act to another social 
act, thinking of god. 

8. The ruling principle is that which rouses 
and turns itself, and while it makes itself such 
as it is and such as it wills to be, it also makes 
everything which happens appear to itself to be 
such as it wills. 

9. In conformity to the nature of the universe 
every single thing is accomplished, for certainly 
it is not in conformity to any other nature that 



M. AvuELWs ANTonmus. 95 

each thing is accomplished, either a nature which 
externally comprehends this, or a nature which 
is comprehended within this nature, or a nature 
external and independent of this. (xi. 1, VI. 
40, VIII. 50.) 

10. The universe is either a confusion, and a 
mutual involution of things, and a dispersion ,* 
or it is unity and order and providence. If then 
it is the former, why do I desire to tarry in a 
fortuitous combination of things and such a dis- 
order ? and why do I care about anything else 
than how I shall at last become earth ? and why 
am I disturbed, for the dispersion of my ele- 
ments will happen whatever I do. But if the 
other supposition is true, I venerate, and I am 
firm, and I trust in him who governs, (iv. 27.) 

11. When thou hast been compelled by cir- 
cumstances to be disturbed in a manner, quickly 
return to thyself and do not continue out of 
tune longer than the compulsion lasts ; for thou 
wilt have more mastery over the harmony by 
continually recurring to it. 

12. If thou hadst a step-mother and a mother 
at the same time, thou wouldst be dutiful to thy 
step-mother, but still thou wouldst constantly 
return to thy mother. Let the court and philo- 
sophy now be to thee step-mother and mother: 
return to philosophy frequently and repose in 
her, through whom what thou meetest with in 
the court appears to thee tolerable and thou ap- 
pearest tolerable in the court. 

13. When we have meat before us and such 
eatables, we receive the impression, that this is 
the dead body of a fish, and this is the dead body 
of a bird or of a pig ; and again, that this Faler- 
nian is only a little grape juice, and this purple 
robe some sheeps' wool dyed with the blood of a 
shell-fish : such then are these impressions, and 
they reach the things themselves and penetrate 
them, and so we see what kind of things they 
are. Just in the same way ought we to act all 
through life, and where there are things which 



96 TBOtTGBTS OF TBE ^MPEUOU 

appear most worthy of our approbation, we 
ought to lay them bare and look at their worth- 
lessness and strip them of all the words by 
which they are exalted. For outward show is a 
wonderful perverter of the reason, and when 
thou art most sure that thou art employed about 
things worth thy pains, it is then that it cheats 
thee most. Consider then what Crates says of 
Xenocrates himself. 

14. Most of the things which the multitude 
admire are referred to objects of the most gen- 
eral kind, those which are held together by co- 
hesion or natural organization, such as stones, 
wood, fig-trees, vines, olives. But those which 
are admired by men, who are a little more rea- 
sonable, are referred to the things which are 
held to getherby a living principle, as flocks, 
herds. Those which are admired by men who 
are still more instructed are the things which 
are held together by a rational soul, not how- 
ever a universal soul, but rational so far as it is 
a soul skilled in some art, or expert in some 
other way, or simply rational so far as the pos- 
sessing of a number of slaves. But he who values 
a rational soul, a soul universal and fitted for 
political life, regards nothing else except this ; 
and above all things he keeps his soul in a con- 
dition and in an activity conformable to reason 
and social life, and he co-operates to this end 
with those who are of the same kind as himself. 

15. Some things are hurrying into existence, 
and others are hurrying out of it; and of that 
which is coming into existence part is already 
extinguished. Motions and changes are con- 
tinually renewing the world, just as the un- 
interrupted course of time is always renewing 
the infinite duration of ages. In this flowing 
stream then, on which there is no abiding, what 
is there of the things which hurry by on what 
a man would set a high price ? It would be 
just as if a man should fall in love with one of 
she sparrows which fly by, but it has already; 



af. ATTEWLins ANTomjuttrs. 97 

past out of sight. Something of this kind tM 
the very life of every man, like the exhalation 
of the blood and the respiration of the air. For 
such as it is to have once drawn in the air and 
to have given it back, which we do every mo- 
ment, just the same is it with the whole respi- 
ratory power, which thou didst receive at thy 
birth yesterday and the day before, to give 
it back to the element from which thou didst 
first draw it. 

16. Neither is transpiration, as in plants, a 
thing to be valued, nor respiration, as in domes- 
ticated animals and wild beasts, nor the receiv- 
ing of impressions by the appearances of things, 
nor being moved by desires as puppets by 
strings, nor assembling in herds, nor being 
nourished by food ; for this is just like the act 
of separating and parting with the useless part 
of our food. What then is worth being valued ? 
To be received with clapping of hands ? No. 
Neither must we value the clapping of tongues, 
for the praise which comes from the many 
is a clapping of tongues. Suppose then that 
thou hast given up this worthless thing called 
fame, what remains that is worth valuing ? 
This in my opinion, to move thyself and to re- 
strain thyself in conformity to thy proper con- 
stitution, to which end all employments lead 
and all arts. For every art aims at this, that 
the thing which has been made should be adapt- 
ed to the work for which it has been made ; 
and both the vine-planter who looks after the 
vine, and the horse-breaker, and he who trains 
the dog, seek this end. But the education and 
the teaching of youth aim at something. In. 
this then is the value of the education and the 
teaching. And if this is well, thou wilt not 
seek anything else. Wilt thou not cease to 
value many other things too ? Then thou "wilt 
be neither free, nor sufficient for thy own hap- 
piness, nor without passion. For of necessity 
thou must be envious, jealous, and suspicioQ* 



^ THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEBOB 

of those who can take away those things, and 
plot against those who have that which is valued 
by thee. Of necessity a man must be alto- 
gether in a state of perturbation who wants any 
of these things ; and besides, he must often find 
fault with the gods. Bat to reverence and 
honor thy own mind will make thee content 
with thyself, and in harmony with society, and 
in agreement with the gods, that is, praising all 
that they give and have ordered. 

17. Above, below, all around are the move- 
ments of the elements. But the motion of 
virtue is in none of these : it is something more 
divine, and advancing by a way hardly observ- 
ed it goes happily on its road. 

18. How strangely men act. They will not 
praise those who are living at the same time 
and living with themselves; but to be them- 
selves praised by posterity, by those whom 
they have never seen nor ever will see, this 
they set much value on. But this is very 
much the same as if thou shouldst be grieved 
because those who have lived before thee did 
not praise thee. 

19. If a thing is difficult to be accomplished 
by thyself, do not think that it is impossible for 
a man : but if anything is possible for a man and 
conformable to his nature, think that this can 
be attained by thyself too. 

20. In the gymnastic exercises suppose that a 
man has torn thee with his nails, and by dashing 
against thy head has inflicted a wound. Well, 
we neither show any signs of vexation, nor are 
we offended, nor do we suspect him afterwards 
as a treacherous fellow ; and yet we are on our 
guard against him, not however as an enemy, 
nor yet with suspicion, but we quietly get out 
of his way. Something like this let thy behavior 
be in all the other parts of life ; let us overlook 
many things in those who are like antagonists 
in the gymnasium. For it is in our pov/er, as I 
:said, to get out of the way, and to have no sus- 
picion nor hatred. 



M. AURELIUS ANrONi:-TUS. ^9 

21. If any man is able to convince me and 
show me that I do not think or act right, I will 
gladly change ; for I seek the truth by which no 
man was ever injured. But he is injured who 
abides in his error and ignorance. 

22. I do my duty : other things trouble me 
not ; for they are either things without life, or 
things without reason, or things that liave 
rambled and know not the way. 

23. As to the animals which have no reason 
and generally all things and objects do thou, 
since thou hast reason and they have none, make 
use of them with a generous and liberal spirit. 
But towards human beings, as they have reason, 
behave in a social spirit. And on all occasions 
call on the gods, and do not perplex thyself 
about the length of time in which thou shalt 
do this ; for even three hours so spent are suf- 
ficient. 

24. Alexander the Macedonian and his groom 
by death were brought to the same state ; for 
either they were received among the same semi- 
nal principles of the universe, or they were alike 
dispersed among the atoms. 

25. Consider how many things in the same in- 
divisible time take place in each of us, things 
which concern the body and things which con- 
cern the soul : and so thou wilt not wonder if 
many more things, or rather all things which 
come into existence in that which is the one and 
all, which we call Cosmos, exist in it at the same 
time. 

26. If any man should propose to thee the 
question, how the name Antoninus is written, 
wouldst thou with a straining of the voice utter 
each letter ? What then if they grow angry, wilt 
thou be angry too? Wilt thou not go on with 
composure and number every letter? Just so 
then in this life also remember that every duty 
is made up of certain parts. These it is thy duty 
to observe, and without being disturbed or show- 
ing anger towards those who are angry with theQ 



100 T30UGHTS OF THE EMPEBOR. 

to go on thy way and finisli that which is set be- 
fore thee. 

27. How cruel it is not to allow men to strive 
after the things which appear to them to be suit- 
able to their nature and profitable ! And yet in 
a manner thou dost not allow them to do this, 
when thou art vexed because they do wrong. 
For they are certainly moved towards things 
because they suppose them to be suitable to their 
nature and profitable to them — But it is not so 
— Teach them then, and show them without be- 
ing angry. 

28. Death is a cessation of the impressions 
through the senses, and of the pulling of the 
strings which move the appetites, and of the dis- 
cursive movements of the thoughts, and of the 
service to the flesh. 

29. It is a shame for the soul to be. first to 
give way in this life, when thy body does not 
give way. 

30. Take care that thou art not made into a 
Caesar, that thou art not dyed with this dye ; for 
such things happen. Keep thyself then simple, 
good, pure, serious, free from affectation, a friend 
of justice, a worshipper of the gods, kind, affec- 
tionate, strenuous in all proper acts. Strive to 
continue to be such as philosophy wished to make 
thee. Reverence the gods, and help men. Short 
is life. There is only one fruit of this terrene 
life, a pious disposition and social acts. Do 
everything as a disciple of Antoninus. Remem- 
ber his constancy in every act which was con- 
formable to reason, and his evenness in all things, 
and his piety, and the serenity of his counte- 
nance, and his sweetness, and his disregard of 
empty fame, and his efforts to understand things ; 
and how he would never let anything pass with- 
out having first most carefully examined it and 
clearly understood it ; and how he bore with 
those who blamed him unjustly without blaming 
them in return ; how he did nothing in a hurry ; 
^nd how h^ listened not to calumnies, and how: I 



M. AURELIUS ANTONIJHU8, , ; , f 

exact an examiner of manners and actions lie 
was ; and not given to reproach people, nor 
timid, nor suspicious, nor a sophist ; and with 
how little he was satisfied, such as lodging, bed, 
dress, food, servants ; and how laborious and 
patient ; and how he was able on account of his 
sparing diet to hold out to the evening, not even 
requiring to relieve himself by any evacuations 
except at the usual hour ; and his firmness and 
uniformity in his friendships ; and how he toler- 
ated freedom of speech in those who opposed 
his opinions ; and the pleasure that he had when 
any man showed him anything better ; and how 
pious he was without superstition. Imitate all 
this that thou mayest have as good a conscience, 
when thy last hour comes, as he had. (i. 16.) 

31. Return to thy sober senses and call thy- 
self back ; and when thou hast roused thyself 
from sleep and hast perceived that they were 
only dreams which troubled thee, now in thy 
waking hours look at these [the things about 
thee] as thou didst look at those [the dreams]. 

82. I consist of a little body and a soul. Now 
to this little body all things are indifferent, for 
it is notable to perceive difference. But to the 
understanding tiese things only are indifferent, 
which are not the works of its own activity. But 
whatever things are the works of its own activ- 
ity, all these are in its power. And of these 
however only ohose which are done with ref- 
erence to the prssent ; for as to the future and 
the past activities of the mind, even these are 
for the present indifferent. 

33. Neither tl e labor which the hand does nor 
that of the foot is contrary to nature, so long as 
the foot does th3 foot's work and the hand the 
hand's. So the i neither to a man as a man is 
his labor contrary to nature, so long as it does 
the things of a man. But if the labor is not 
contrary to his nature, neither is it an evil to 
him. 

34. How many pleasures have been enjoyed 
by robbers, patricides, tyrants. 



102 TSOUQHTS OF THE SMPEBOE. 

85. Dost thou not see how the handicraftsmen 
accommodate themselves up to a certain point 
to those who are not skilled in their craft,— 
nevertheless they cling to the reason [the prin- 
ciples] of their art and do not endure to depart 
from it ? Is it not strange if the architect and 
the physician shall have more respect to the 
reason [the principles] of their own arts than 
man to his own reason, which is common to 
him and the gods. 

36. Asia, Europe are corners of the universe : 
all the sea a drop in the universe ; Athos a little 
clod of the universe : all the present time is a 
point in eternity. All things are little, change- 
able, perishable. All things come from thence, 
from that universal ruling power either directly 
proceeding or by way of consequence. And 
accordingly the lion's gaping jaws, and that 
which is poisonous, and every harmful thing, as 
a thorn, as mud, are after-products of the grand 
and beautiful. Do not then imagine that they 

. are of another kind from that which thou dost 
renerate, but form a just opinion of the source 
of all. 

37. He who has seen present things has seen 
all, both everything which has taken place from 
all eternity and everything which will be for 
time without end ; for all are of one kin and of 
one form. 

38. Frequently consider the connection of all 
things in the universe and their relation to one 
another. For in a manner all things are impli- 
cated with one another, and all in this way are 
friendly to one another ; for one thing comes in 
order after another, and this is by virtue of thef 
active movement and mutual conspiration and 
the unity of the substances. 

39. Adapt thyself to the things with which thy j 
lot has been cast: and the men among whom I 
thou hast received thy portion, love them, but dp] 
it truly [sincerely]. 

40. Everjr instrument, tool, vessel, if it does I 



M. AtlBELinS AKTONmCSL 108 

that for which it has been made, is well and yet 
he who made it is not there. But in the things 
which are held together by nature there is within 
and there abides in them the power which made 
them ; wherefore the more it is fit to reverence 
this power, and to think, that, if thou dost live 
and act according to its will, everything in thee 
is in conformity to intelligence. And thus also 
in the universe, the things which belong to it are 
in conformity to intelligence. 

41. Whatever of the things which are not 
within thy power thou shalt suppose to be good 
for thee or evil, it must of necessity be that, if 
such a bad thing befall thee or the loss of such a 
good thing, thou wilt blame the gods, and hate 
men too, those who are the cause of the misfor- 
tune or the loss, or those who are suspected of 
being likely to be the cause ; and indeed we do 
much injustice, because we make a difference be- 
tween these things [because we do not regard 
these things as indifferent]. But if we judge 
only those things which are in our power to be 
good or bad, there remains no reason either for 
finding fault with god or standing in a hostile 
attitude to man. 

42. We are all working together in one end, 
some with knowledge and design, and othera 
without knowing what they do ; as men also 
when they are asleep, of whom it is Heraclitus, 
I think, who says that they are laborers and co- 
operators in the things which take place in the 
universe. But men co-operate after different 
fashions : and even those co-operate abundantly, 
who find fault with what happens and those 
who try to oppose it and to hinder it; for the 
universe had need even of such men as these. 
It remains then for thee to understand among 
what kind of workmen thou placest thyself ; for 
he who rules all things will certainly make a 
right use of thee, and he will receive thee among 
some part of the co-operators and of those whose 
labors conduce to one end. But be not thou stict 



104 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPESOlt, 

a part as the mean and ridiculous verse in the 
plaj, which Clirjsippus speaks of. 

43. Does the sun undertake to do the work of 
the rain, or iEsculapius the work of the Fruit- 
bearer [the earth] ? And how is it with respect 
to each of the stars, are they not different and 
yet they work together to the same end ? 

44. If the gods have determined about me 
and about the things which must happen to me, 
they have determined well, for it is not easy 
even to imagine a deity without forethought ; ; 
and as to doing me harm, why should they have 
any desire towards that? for what advantage 
would result to them from this or to the whole, 
which is the special object of their providence ? 
But if they have not determined about me indi- 
vidually, they have certainly determined about 
the whole at least, and the things which happen 
by way of sequence in this general arrangement 
I ought to accept with pleasure and to be content 
with them. But if they determine about noth- 
ing — which it is wicked to believe, or if we do 
believe it, let us neither sacrifice nor pray nor 
swear by them nor do anything else which we 
do as if the gods were present and lived with us 
— but if however the gods determine about 
none of the things which concern us, I am able 
to determine about myself, and I can inquire 
about that which is useful ; and that is useful 
to every man which is conformable to his own 
constitution and nature. But my nature is ra- 
tional and social ; and my city and country, so 
far as I am Antoninus, is Rome, but so far as I 
am a man, it is the world. The things then 
which are useful to these cities are alone useful 
to me. 

45. Whatever happens to every man, this is 
for the interest of the universal: this might be 
sufficient. But further thou wilt observe this 
also as a general truth, if thou dost observe, 
that whatever is profitable to any man is profit- 
able also to other men. But let the word prof- 



3f. AUBELIUS AlfTOmNUS. I0& 

Itable be taken here in the common sense as said 
of things of the middle kind [neither good nor 
bad.] 

46. As it happens to thee in the amphithea- 
tre and such phices, that the continual sight of 
the same things and the uniformity make the 
spectacle wearisome, so it is in the whole of life ; 
for all things above, below, are the same and 
from the same. How long then? 

47. Think continually that all kinds of men 
and of all kinds of pursuits and of all nations 
are dead, so that thy thoughts come down even 
to Philistion and Phoebus and Origanion. Now 
turn thy thoughts to the other kinds [of men.] 
To that place then we must remove, where 
there are so many great orators, and so many 
noble philosophers, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Soc- 
rates ; so many heroes of former days, and so 
many generals after them, and tyrants ; besides 
tliese, Eudoxus, Hi23parchus, Archimedes, and 
other men of acute natural talents, great minds, 
lovers of labor, versatile, confident, mockers 
even of the perishable and ephemeral life of 
man, as Menippus and such as are like him. As 
to all these consider that they have long been 
in the dust. What harm then is this to them ; 
and what to those whose names are altogether 
unknown ? One tiling here is worth a great 
deal, to pass thy life in truth and justice, with a 
benevolent disposition even to liars and unjust 
men. 

48. When thou wishest to delight thyself, 
think of the virtues of those who live with thee ; 
for instance, the activity of one, and the mod- 
esty of another, and the liberality of a third, 
and some other good quality of a fourth. For 
nothing delights so much as the examples of the 
virtues, when they are exhibited in the morals 
cf those who live with us and present them- 
selves in abundance, as far as is possible. Where- 
fore we must keep them before us. 

49. Art thou dissatisfied because thou weigli- 



2©0 Tff9UG3T3 Oif THE SMPMSOB 

est only so many litrae and not three hundred ? 
Be not dissatisfied then that thou must live only 
60 many yeai's and not more ; for as thou art 
satisfied with the amount of substance which 
has been assigned to thee, so be content with 
the time. 

50. Let us try to persuade them [men]. But 
act even against their will, when the principles 
of justice lead that way. If however any man 
by using force stands in thy way, betake thy- 
self to contentment and tranquillity, and at the 
same time employ the hindrance towards the 
exercise of some other virtue ; and remember 
that thy attempt was with a reservation [condi- 
tionally], that thou didst not desire to do impos- 
sibilities. What then didst thou desire ? — Some 
such effort as this — But thou attainest thy ob- 
ject, if the things to which thou wast moved are 
[not] accomplished.! 

51. He who loves fame considers another 
man's activity to be his own good; and he M^ho 
loves pleasure, hi§ own sensations ; but he who 
has understanding, considers his own acts to be 
his own good. 

52. It is in our power to have no opinion about 
a thing, and not to be disturbed in our soul ; for 
things themselves have no natural power to form 
our judgments. 

53. Accustom thyself to attend carefully to 
what is said by another, and as much as it is pos- 
sible, be in the speaker's mind. 

54. That which is not good for the swarm, 
neither is it good for the bee. 

55. If sailors abused the helmsman or the sick 
the doctor, would they listen to anybody else ; or 
how could the helmsman secure the safety of 
those in the ship or the doctor the health of those 
whom he attends ? 

56. How many together with whom I came 
■into the world are abeady gone out of it. 

57. To the jaundiced honey tastes bitter, and 
^to those bitten by mad dogs water causes fe^ ; 






and to little children the ball is a fine thing. 
Why then am I angry ? Dost thou think that a 
false opinion has less power than the bile in the 
jaundiced or the poison in him who is bitten by a 
mad dog ? 

68. No man will hinder thee from living ac- 
cording to the reason of thy own nature : nothing 
will happen to thee contrary to the reason of the 
universal nature. 

59. What kind of people are those whom men 
wish to please, and for what object, and by what 
kind of acts ? How soon will time cover aU 
things, and how many it has covered already. 



i^ TBOTJOETS OF THE EMPEROU. 



VII. 

What is badness ? It is that wliicli thou hast 
often seen. And on the occasion of everything 
which happens keep this in mind, that it is that 
which thou hast often seen. Everywhere up 
and down thou Avilt find tlie same things, with 
which the okl histories are filled, those of the 
middle ages and those of our own day ; with which 
cities and houses are filled now. There is noth- 
ing new : all things are both familiar and short- 
lived. 

2. How can our principles become dead, unless 
the impressions [thoughts] which corespond to 
them are extinguished? But it is in thy power 
continuously to fan these thoughts into a flame. 
I can have that opinion about anything which I 
ought to have. If I can, why am I disturbed? 
The things which are external to my mind have 
no relation at all to my mind. — Let this be the 
state of thy affects, and thoustandest erect. To 
recover thy life is in thy power. Look at things 
again as thou didst use to look at them ; for iu 
this consists the recovery of thy life. 

3. The idle business of shew, plays on the 
stage, flocks of sheep, herds, exercises with spears, 
a bone cast to little dogs, a bit of bread into fish- 
ponds, laborings of ants and burden-carrying, 
runnings about of frightened little mice, puppets 
pulled by strings — [all alike]. It is thy duty 
then in the midst of such thin;^s to show good 
humor and not a proud air ; to understand how- 
ever that every man is worth just so much as the 
things are worth about which he busies himself. 

4. In discourse thou must {attend to what is 
HAid, and in every movement thou must observe 



M. AtTEELIUS AXTOmNUS. 109 

■what is doing. And in the one thou should st see 
immediately to what end it refers, but in thft 
other watch carefully what is the thing signified. 

5. Is ray understanding sufficient for this or 
not ? If it is sufficient, I use it for the work as 
an instrument given by the universal nature. 
But if it is not sufficient, then either I retire from 
the work and give way to him who is able to do 
it better, unless there be some reason why I ought 
not to do so ; or I do it as well as I can, taking 
to help me the man who with the aid of my rul- 
ing principle can do what is now fit and useful 
for the general good. For whatsoever either by 
myself or with another I can do, ought to be di- 
rected to this only, to that which is useful and 
well suited to society. 

6. How many after being celebrated by fame 
have been given up to oblivion ; and how many 
who have celebrated the fame of others have 
long been dead. 

7. Be not ashamed to be helped ; for it is thy 
business to do thy duty like a soldier in the as- 
sault on a town. How then, if being lame thou 
canst not mount up on the battlements alone, 
but with the help of another it is possible? 

8. Let not future things disturb thee, for thou 
wilt come to them, if it shall be necessary, hav- 
ing with thee the same reason which now thou 
usest for present things. 

9. All things are implicated with one another, 
and the bond is holy ; and there is hardly any- 
thing unconnected with any other thing. For 
things have been co-ordinated, and they com- 
bine to form the same universe [order]. For 
there is one universe made up of all things, and 
one god who pervades all things, and one sub- 
stance, and one law, [one] common reason in all 
intelligent animals, and one truth ; if, indeed, 
there is also one perfection for all animals which 
are of the same stock and participate in the 
same reason. 

10. Everything material soon disapjpewi in 



110 THOUGBTS OF TSE EMPEBOE 

the substance of the whole; and everything 
formal [causal] is very soon taken back into the 
universal reason ; and the memory of everything 
is very soon overwhelmed in time. 

11. To the rational animal the same act is 
according to nature and according to reason. 

12. Be thou erect, or be made erect, (ill. 5.) 

13. Just as it is with the members in those 
bodies which are united in one, so it is with ra- 
tional beings Avhich exist separate, for they have 
been constituted for one co-operation. And the 
perception of this will be more apparent to thee, 
if thou often say est to thyself that I am a mem- 
ber [jneXos] of the system of rational beings. 
But if [using the letter r~\ thou sayest that thou 
art a part [«epos], thou dost not yet love men 
from thy heart; beneficence does not yet de- 
light thee for its own sake ; ^ thou still doest it 
barely as a thing of propriety, and not yet as 
doing good to thyself. 

14. Let there fall externally what will on the 
parts which can feel the effects of this fall. For 
those parts which have felt will complain, if 
they choose. But I, unless I think that what 
has happened is an evil, am not injured. And 
it is in my power not to think so. 

15. Whatever any one does or sa3^s, I must be 
good, just as if the gold, or the emerald or „the 
purple were always saying this, Whatever any 
one does or says, I must be emerald and keep my 
color. 

16. The ruling faculty does not disturb itself, 
I mean, does not frighten itself or cause itself 
pain.f But if any one else can frighten or pain 
it, let him do so. For the faculty itself will not 
by its own opinion turn itself into such ways. 
Let the body itself take care, if it can, that it 
suffer nothing, and let it speak, if it suffers, But 
the soul itself, that which is subject to fear, to 

1 I have used Gataker's conjecture KaToKrjKTiKuis instead 
of the common reading mraXriimKibs : compare iv, 20; 



M. AURELIU 8 ANTONINUS. Ill 

pain, wliich has completely the power of forming 
an opmion about these things, will suffer no- 
thing, for it will never deviate f into such a 
judgment. The leading principle in itself wants 
nothing, unless it makes a want for itself; and 
therefore it is both free from perturbation and 
unimpeded, if it does not disturb and impede it- 
self. 

17. Eudaemonia [ happiness ] is a good 
daemon, or a good thing. What then art thou 
doing here, O imagination ? go away, I intreat 
thee by the gods, as thou didst come, for I want 
thee not. But thou art come according to thy old 
fashion. I am not angry with thee: only go away. 

18. Is any man afraid of change ? Why what 
can take place without change ? What then is 
more pleasing or more suitable to the universal 
nature ? And canst thou take a bath unless the 
food undergoes a change ? and canst thou be 
nourished, unless the food undergoes a change ? 
And can anything else that is useful be accom- 
plished without change ? Dost thou not see then 
that for thyself also to change is just the sa,me, 
and equally necessary for the universal nature ? 

19. Through the universal substance as through 
a furious torrent all bodies are carried, being by 
their nature united with and co-operating with 
the whole, as the parts of our body with one an- 
other. How many a Chrysippus, how many a 
Socrates, how many aii Epictetus has time already 
swallowed up ? And let the same thought occur 
to thee with reference to every man and thing. 

20. One thing only troubles me lest I should 
do something which the constitution of man does 
n^)t allow, or in the way which it does not allow, 
or what it does not allow now. 

21 Near is thy forgetfulness of all things ; 
and near the forgetfulness of thee by all. 

22. It is peculiar to men to love even those 
who do wrong. And this happens, if when they 
do wrong it occurs to thee that they are Idns- 
men, and that they do wrong through iguoranoa 



/ 

/ 

IX% TSOUQHTS OF THE EMPEUOE 

and unintentionally, and that soon both of you 
will die ; and above all, that the wrong-doer 2ias 
done thee no harm, for he has not made thy 
ruling faculty worse than it was before. 

23. The universal nature out of the universal 
substance, as if it were wax, now moulds a 
horse, and when it has broken this up, it uses 
the material for a tree, then for a man, then for 
something else ; and each of these things 
subsists for a very short time. But it is no 
hardship for the vessel to be broken up, just as 
there was none in its being fastened together. 

24. A scowling look is altogether unnatural ; 
when it is often assumed,^ the result is that all 
comeliness dies away, and at last is so com- 
pletely extinguished that it cannot be again 
lighted up at all. Try to conclude from this 
very fact that it is contrary to reason. For if 
even the perception of doing wrong shall depart, 
what reason is there for living any longer ? 

25. Nature which governs the whole will 
soon change all tilings which thou seest, and 
out of their substance will make other things, 
and again other things from the substance of 
them, in order that the world may be ever new. 

26. When a man has done thee any wrong, 
immediately consider with what opinion about 
good or evil he has done wrong. For when 
thou has seen this, thou wilt pit}^ him, and wilt 
neither wonder nor be angry. For either thou 
thyself thinkest the same thing to be good that 
he does or another thing of the same kind. 
It is thy duty then to pardon him. But if thou 
dost not think such things to be good or evil, 
thou wilt more readily be well disposed to him 
who is in error. 

2T. Think not so much of what thou hast not 
as of what thou hast : but of the things which 
thou hast select the best, and then reflect 
how eagerly they would have been sought, if 
thou hadst them not. At the same time how- 
* This is corrupt. 



M. AURELIUS ANTONINUS. 113 

ever take care that thou dost not through being 
so pleased with them accustom thyself to over- 
value them, so as to be disturbed if ever thou 
shouldst not have them. 

28. Retire into thyself. The rational princi- 
ple which rules has this nature, that it is con- 
tent with itself when it does what is just, and 
so secures tranquillity. 

29. Wipe out the imagination. • Stop the pull- 
ing of the strings. Confine thyself to the pres- 
ent. Understand well what happens either to 
thee or to another. Divide and distribute every 
object into the causal [formal] and the material. 
Think of thy last hour. Let the wrong which 
is done by a man stay there where the wrong 
was done. 

30. Direct thy attention to what is said. Let 
thy understanding enter into the things that 
are doing and the things which do them. 
(VII. 4.) 

31. Adorn thyself with simplicity and modesty 
and with indifference towards the things which 
lie between virtue and vice. Love mankind. 
Follow god. The poet says that Law rules all 
— f And it is enough to remember that law rules 
all.f 3_ 

32. About death : whether it is a dispersion, 
or a resolution into atoms, or annihilation, it is 
either extinction or change. 

33. About pain : the pain which is intolerable 
carries us off ; but that Avhich lasts a long time 
is tolerable ; and the mind maintains its own 
tranquillity by retiring into itself,f and the 
ruling faculty is not made worse. But the 
parts which are harmed by pain, let them, if 
they can, give their opinion about it. 

34. About fame : look at the minds [of 
those wlio seek fame], observe what they are, 
and what kind of things they avoid, and what 
kind of things they pursue. And consider that 

.as the heaps of sand piled on one another 

* The end of this seqtion is unintelligible, 
8 



114 THOUGHTS OF THE BMP BEOS. 

hide the former sands, so ia life the eveuts 
which go before are soon covered by those 
which come after. 

35. From Plato : * the man who has an ele- 
vated mind and takes a view of all time and of 
all substance, dost thou suppose it possible for 
him to think that human life is anything great? 
it is not possible, he said. — Such a man then 
will think that death also is no evil — Certainly 
not. 

36. From Antisthenes : It is royal to do good 
and to be abused. 

37. It is a base thing for the countenance to 
to be obedient and to regulate and compose it- 
self as the mind commands, and for the mind not 
to be regulated and composed by itself. 

38. It is not right to vex ourselves at things, 
For they care naught about it.^ 

39. To the immortal gods and us give joy. 

40. Life must be reaped like the ripe ears of 

corn : 
One man is born ; another dies.^ 

41. If gods care not for m.e and for my children, 
There is a reason for it. 

42. For the good is with me, and the just. 

43. No joining others in their wailing, no 
violent emotion. 

44. From Plato : ^ But I would make this man 
a sufficient answer, which is this : Thou sayest 
not well, if thou thinkest that a man, who is 
good for anything at all ought to compute the 
hazard of life or death, and should not rather 
look to this only in all that he does, whether he 
is doing what is j ust or unjust, and the works of 
a good or a bad man. 

* Plate, Pol. VI. 486. 

* From the Bellerophon of Euripides. 

* From the Hypsipyle of Euripides. Cicero (Tuscul. ni. 
25.) has translated six lines from Euripides, and among 
them are tliese two lines : — 

Redtl3nda terrae est terra; turn vita omnihus 
Metenda ut fniges : Sic jubet necessitas, 

^ See Aristophanes, Acharneuses. 

' From the Apologia, 



M. AUHELIVS ANTONmUS. 115 

45. ^For thus it is, men of Athens, in truth: 
wherever a man has placed himself thinking it 
the best place for him, or has been placed by a 
commander, there in my opinion he ought to 
stay and to abide the hazard, taking nothing in- 
to the reckoning, either death or anything else, 
before the baseness [of deserting his post]. 

46. But, my good friend, consider whether 
that which is noble and good is not something 
different from saving and being saved ; for f we 
must not allow that it consists in living such or 
such a time, at least for one who is really a 
man ; f and he should not be fond of life, but 
entrusting this to god and believing what 
tlie women say, that no man can escape his des- 
tiny, he should next inquire how he may best 
live the time that he has to live.^ 

47. Look round at the courses of the stars, ag 
if thou wert going along with them ; and con- 
stantly consider the changes of the elements in- 
to one another ; for such thoughts purge away 
the filth of the terrene life. 

48. This is a fine saying of Plato : ^^ That he 
who is discoursing about men should look also 
at earthly things as if he viewed them from some 
higlier place ; should look at them in their as- 
semblies, armies, agricultural labors, marriages, 
treaties, births, deaths, noise of the courts of 
justice, desert places, various nations of barba- 
rians, feasts, lamentations, markets, a mixture of 
all things and an orderly combination of con- 
traries. 

49. Consider the past; such great changes of 
political supremacies. Thou mayest foresee also 
the things which will be. For they will certain- 
ly be of like form, and it is not possible that 

' From the Apologia. 

^_ Plato, Gorgias, c. 6S. In this passage the text of An- 
toninus lias iareov which is perhaps right : but there seems 
so be something wrong in the text. It is certainly difficult 
to Sec tlie exact construction of parts of the stction. Tha 
rearhng EvKrhv for sdrsov docs not mend the matior. 

" It is not in tha extant writings of Plato. 



116 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEBOR 

they should deviate from the order of the things 
which take place now : accordingly to have con- 
templated human life for forty years is the same 
as to have contemplated it for ten thousand, 
years. For what more wilt thou see ? 

50. That which has grown from the earth to 

the earth, 
But that which has sprung from heavenly seed, 
Back to the heavenly realms returns.^^ 
This is" either a dissolution of the mutual in- 
volution of t^ie atoms, or a similar dispersion of 
the unsentient elements. 

51. With food and drinks and cunning magio 

arts. 
Turning the channel's course to 'scape from 
death.i2 
The breeze which heaven has sent 
We must endure, and toil without complaining. 

52. Another may be more expert in casting 
his opponent ; but let him not be more social, nor 
more modest, nor better disciplined to meet all 
that happens, nor more considerate with respect 
to the faults of liis neighbors. 

53. Where any work can be done conformably 
to the reason which is common to gods and men, 
there we have nothiug to fear : for where we are 
able to get profit by means of the activity which 
is successful and proceeds according to our con- 
stitution, there no harm is to be suspected. 

54. Everywhere and at all times it is in thy 
power piously to acquiesce in thy present condi- 
tion, and to behave justly to those who are about 
thee, and to exert thy skill upon thy present 
thoughts, that nothing shall steal into them with- 
out being well examined. 

55. Do not look around thee to discover other 
men's ruling principles, but look straight to this, 
to what nature leads thee, both the universal 
nature through the things which happen to thee, 

1^ From the Chrysippus of Euripides. 

" The first two lines are from the Supp. of EuripideH, T. 



M. A VHELIUS ANTONINUS. 117 

and thy own nature through the acts which must 
be done by thee. But every being ought to do 
that which is according to its constitution ; and 
all other things have been made for the sake of 
rational beings just as among irrational things 
the inferior for the sake of the superior, but the 
rational for the sake of one another. 

The prime principle then in man's constitution 
is the social. And the second is not to yield to 
the persuasions of the body, for it is the pecul- 
liar office of the rational and intelligent motion 
to circumscribe itself, and never to be overpow- 
ered either by the motion of the senses or of the 
appetites, for both are animal ; but the intelli- 
gent motion claims superiority and does not per- 
mit itself to be overpowered by the others. And 
with good reason, for it is formed by nature to 
use all of them. The third thing in the ration- 
al constitution is freedom from error and from 
deception. Let then the ruling principle hold- 
ing fast to these things go straight on, and it has 
what is its own. 

56. Consider thyself to be dead, and to have 
completed thy life up to the present time ; and 
live according to nature the remainder which is 
allowed thee. 

67. Love that only which happens to thee, and 
is spun with the thread of thy destiny. For 
what is more suitable ? 

58. In everything which happens keep before 
thy eyes those to whom the same things hap- 
pened, and how they were vexed, and treated 
hem as strange things, and found fault with 
1 m : and now where are they ? Nowhere. 
"W '• then dost thou choose to act in the same 
wa^ ^ and why dost thou not leave these agita- 
tions which are foreign to nature, to those who 
cause them and those who are moved by them; 
and why art thou not altogether intent upon the 
right way of making use of the things which hap- 
pen to thee ? for then thou wilt use them well, 
ahd they will be a material for thee [to work on]. 



118 TEOXTOSTS OF THE HMFEBOIt 

Only attend to tlijself, and resolve to be a good 
man in every act which thou doest : and remem- 

jrjgj, * * * * #13 

59. Look within. Within is tlie fountain of 
good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt 
ever dig. 

60. The body ought to be compact, and to 
show no irregularity either in motion or attitude. 
For what the mind shows in the face by main- 
taining in it the expression of intelligence and 
propriety, that ought to be required also in the 
whole body. But all these things should be ob- 
served without affectation. 

61. The art of life is more like the wrestler's 
art than the dancer's, in respect of this that it 
should stand ready and firm to meet onsets which 
are sudden and unexpected. 

62. Constantly observe who those are whose 
approbation thou wishest to have, and what 
ruling principles they possess. For then thou 
wilt neither blame those who offend involuntari- 
ly, nor wilt thou want their approbation, if thou 
lookest to the sources of*their opinions and ap- 
petites. 

63. Every soul, the philosopher says, is invol- 
untarily deprived of truth ; consequently in the 
same way it is deprived of justice and temper- 
ance and benevolence and everything of the kind. 
It is most necessary to bear this constantly in 
mind, for thus thou wilt be more gentle towards 
all. 

64. In every pain let this thought be present, 
that there is no dishonor in it, nor does it make 
the governing intelligence worse, for it does 
not damage the intelligence either so far as the in* 
telligence is rational i* or so far as it is social. 

^^ This section is obscure, and the conclusion is so corrupt 
that it is impossible to give any probable moaning to it. It 
is better to leave it as it is than to patch it up, as some critics 
and translators have done. 

^* The text has ^Xikt}, which it has been proposed to alter 
to XoyiK-fj, and this change is necessary. We shall then hare 
in this section Xo7t/rt}and koivuvlkti associated, as w« hAT« in 
Hi ik X07CK1) and iroXiTiKv and in s. 72. . 



M. AUSSLIUS ANTONINUS. 119 

Indeed in the case of most pains let this remark 
of Epicurus aid thee, that pain is neither intol- 
erable nor everlasting, if thou bearest in mind 
that it has its limits, and if thou addest nothing 
to it in imagination: and remember this too, 
that we do not perceive that many things which 
are disagreeable to us are the same as pain, such 
as excessive drowsiness, and the being scorched 
by heat, and the having no appetite. When then 
thou art discontented about any of these things, 
say to thyself, that thou art yielding to pain. 

QS. Take care not to feel towards the inhu- 
man, as they feel towards men.^^ 

QQ. How do we know if Telauges was not 
superior in character to Socrates ? for it is not 
enough that Socrates died a more noble death, 
and disputed more skilfully with the sophists, 
and passed the night in the cold with more en- 
durance, and that when he was bid to arrest 
Leon of Salamis, he considered it more noble to 
refuse, and that he walked in a swaggering way 
in the streets — though as to this one may have 
great doubts if it was true. But we ought to 
inquire, what kind of a soul it was that Socrates 
possessed, and if he was able to be content with 
being just towards men and pious towards the 
gods, neither idly vexed on account of men's 
villainy, nor yet making himself a slave to any 
man's ignorance,- nor receiving as strange any- 
thing that fell to his share out of the universal 
nor enduring it as intolerable, nor allowing his 
understanding to sympathize with the affects of 
the miserable flesh. 

67. Nature has not so mingled f [the intelli- 
gence] with the composition of the body, as not 
to have allowed thee the power of circumscrib- 
ing thyself and of bringing under subjection to 
thyself all that is thy own ; for it is very pos- 
sible to be a divine man and to be recognized as 
such by no one. Always bear this in mind ; 

^ I have followed Gataker's conjectureoi dTrdv^/wTot instead 
of the MSS. reading ql ivepwrou 



120 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR 

and another thing too, that very little indeed . 
necessary for living a happy life. And because 
thou hast despaired of becoming a dialectician 
and skilled in the knowledge of nature, do not 
for this reason renounce the hope of being 
both free and modest and social and obedient 
to god. 

68. It is in thy power to live free from all 
compulsion in the greatest tranquillity of mind, 
even if all the world cry out against thee as 
much as they choose, and even if wild beasts 
tear in pieces the members of this kneaded matter 
which has grown around thee. For what hinders 
the mind in the midst of all this from maintain- 
ing itself in tranquillity and in a just judgment 
of all surrounding things and in a ready use of 
the objects which are presented to it, so that 
the judgment may say to the thing which falls 
under its observation ; This thou art in sub- 
stance [reality], though in men's opinion thou 
mayst appear to be of a different kind ; and the 
use shall say to that which falls under the hand : 
Thou art the thing that I was seeking ; for to 
me that which jDresents itself is always a ma- 
terial for virtue both rational and political, and 
in a word for the exercise of art which belongs 
to man or god. For everything which happens 
has a relationship either to god or man, and is 
neither new nor difficult to handle, but usual and 
apt matter to work on. 

69. The perfection of moral character con- 
sists in this, in passing every day as the last, 
and in being neither violently excited nor torpid 
nor playing the hypocrite. 

70. The gods who are immortal are not vexed 
because during so long a time they must tol- 
erate continually men snch as they are and so 
many of them bad ; and besides this they also 
take care of them in all ways. But thou, who 
art destined to end so soon, art thou wearied of 
enduring the bad, and this too when thou art 
pne of them ? 



M. A nEEL ws A KTomirus. 121 

71. It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to 
fly from his own badness ; which is indeed pos- 
sible, but to fly from other men's badness, 
which is impossible. 

72. Whatever the rational and political [social] 
faculty finds to be neither intelligent nor social, 
it properly judges to be inferior to itself. 

73. When thou hast done a good act and an- 
other has received it, why dost thou still look 
for a third thing besides these, as fools do, either 
to have the reputation of having done a good 
act or to obtain a return ? 

74. No man is tired of receiving what is use- 
ful. But it is useful to act according to nature. 
Do not then be tired of receiving what is use- 
ful by doing it to others. 

75. The nature of the All moved to make 
the universe. But now either everything that 
takes place comes by way of consequence [or 
continuity] ; or even the chief things towards 
which the ruling power of the universe directs 
its own movement are governed by no rational 
principle. If this is remembered it will make 
thee more tranquil in many things, (ix. 21, VI. 
44.) 16 

^^ It is not easy to understand tins section. It has been 
suggested that there is some error in ij d\6yitrTa etc. Some 
of the translators have made nothing of the passage, and 
they have somewhat perverted the words. The first prop- 
osition is, that the universe was made by some sufficient 
power. A beginning of the vmiverse is assumed, and a 
power which framed an order. Tlie next question is, How 
are things produced now; or in other words, by what power 
do forms apj^ear in continuous succession ? The answer, 
according to Antoninus, may be this: It is by virtue of the 
original constitution of things that all change and succes- 
sion have been effected and are effected. And this is in- 
tt'iligible in a sense, if we admit that the universe is always 
O'le and the same, a continuity of identity; as much one 
and the same as man is one and the same, which he be- 
lieves himself to be, tliongh he also believes and cannot 
help believing that both in his body and in his thoughts 
there is change and snccession. There is no real discon- 
linuiiy th<;n in llie uiiivei-^e ; and if we say that there was 
an order framed in the bnginning and that the things which 
are now produced are a consequence of a previous airange- 



12^ THOUQHTB OF TKE EMPJEBOR 

ment, we speak of things as we are compelled to view them, 
as forming a series or succession ; just as we speak of the 
changes in our own bodies and the sequence of our own 
thoughts. But as there are no intervals, not even in- 
tervals infinitely small, between any two supposed states 
of any one thing, so there are no intervals, not even infi- 
nitely small, between what we call one thing and any other 
thing which we speak of as immediately preceding or fol- 
lowing it. What we call time is an idea derived from our 
notion of a succession of things or events, an idea which is a 
part of our constitution, but not an idea which we can sup- 
pose to belong to an infinite intelligence and power. The 
conclusion then is certain that the present and the past, 
the production of present things and the supposed original 
order out of which we say that present things now come, 
are one: and the present productive power and the so-called 

?ast arrangement are only different names for one thing, 
suppose then that Antoninus wrote here as people some- 
times talk now, and that his real meaning is not exactly 
expressed by his words. There are certainly other passages 
from which, I think, that we may collect that he had no- 
tions of production something like what I have expressed. 
We now come to the alternative: "or even the chief 

things principle." I do not exactly know what he 

means byrd Kvpiurara,^' the chief," or, " the most excellent," 
or whatever it is. But as he speaks elsewhere of inferior 
and superior things, and of the inferior being for the us« 
of the superior, and of rational beings being the highest, he 
may here mean rational beings. He also in this alternative 
assumes a governing power of the universe, and that it acts 
by directing its power towards these chief objects, or making 
its special, proper, motion towards them. And here he uses 
the noun ( dpn'^ ) " movement," which contains the same 
notion as the 'verh (w'prjTjcre) "moved," which he used at 
the beginning of the paragraph when he was speaking of 
the making of the universe. If we do not accept the first 
hypothesis, he says, we must take the conclusion of the 
second, that the " chief things towards which the ruling 
power of the universe makes a movement are directed 
by no rational principle." The meaning then is, if there is % 
meaning in it, that though there is a governing power, which 
strives to give effect to its efforts, we must conclude that 
there is no rational direction of anything, if the power 
which first made the universe does not in some way govern 
it still. Besides, if we assume that anything is now pro- 
duced or now exists without the action of the supreme in- 
telligence, and yet that this intelligence makes an effort to 
act, we obtain a conclusion which cannot be reconciled with 
the nature of a supreme power, whose existence Antoninus 
always assumes. The tranquillity that a man may gain 
from these reflections must result from his rejecting the 
second hypothesis, and accepting the first; whatever may 
be the exact sense in which the emperor understood the 
first. Or, as he says elsewhere, if there is no providence 
which governs the world, man has at least the power 
of governing himself according to the constitution of Ms aa* 



M. AURELIUS ANTONINUS. 12S 

tare*, and so he may be tranquil, if he does the best that he 
oan. 

, If there is no error in the passage, it is worth the labor 
to discover the writer's exact meaning; for I think that he 
had a meaning, though people may not agree what it was. 
(Compare ix. 28. ) If I have rightly explained the em- 
peror's meaning in this and other passages, he has touched 
the solution of a great question. 



124 TUOUQETS OF THE EMPEBOR 



VIII. 

This reflection also tends to the remoyal of 
the desire of empty fame, that it is no longer 
in thy power to have lived the whole of thy 
life, or at least thy life from thy youth upwards 
like a philosopher; but both to many others 
and to thyself it is plain that thou art far from 
philosophy. Thou hast fallen into disorder then, 
so that it is no longer easy for thee to get the 
reputation of a pliilosopher ; and thy plan of 
life also opposes it. If then thou hast truly 
seen where the matter lies, throw away the 
thought. How thou slialt seem [to others], and 
be content if thou shalt live the rest of thy life 
in such wise as thy nature wills. Observe then 
what it wills, and let nothing else distract thee ; 
for thou hast had experience of many wander- 
ings without having found happiness anywhere, 
not in syllogisms, nor in wealth, nor in reputa- 
tion, nor in enjoyment, nor anywhere. Where 
is it then ? In doing what man's nature requires. 
How then shall a man do this ? If he has pnn- 
ciples from v/hich come his affects and his a '-s. 
What principles? Those which relate to go i 
and bad : the belief that there is nothing goov. 
for man, which does not make him just, tem- 
perate, manly, free ; and that there is nothing 
bad, which does not do the contrary to what 
has been mentioned. 

2. On the occasion of every act ask thyself. 
How is this with respect to me ? Shall I repent 
of it ? A little time and I am dead, and all is 
gone. What more do I seek, if what I am now 
doing is the work of an intelligent living being, 
and a social being, and one who is under the 
game law with god ? 



M.AUBELIUS ANTONINUS. 125 

8. Alexander and Caius and Pompeius, what 
are they in comparison with Diogenes and Hera- 
clitus and Socrates ? For they were acquainted 
with things, and their causes [forms], and their 
matter, and the ruling principles of these men 
were the same [or conformable to their pur- 
suits]. But as to the others, how many things 
had they to care for, and to how many things 
were they slaves. 

4. [Consider] that men will do the same 
things nevertheless, even though thou shouldst 
burst. 

5. This is the chief thing : Be not perturbed, 
for all things are according to the nature of 
the universal ; and in a little time thou wilt be 
nobody and nowhere, like Hadrianus and Au- 
gustus. In the next place having fixed thy 
eyes steadily on thy business look at it, and at 
the same time remembering that it is thy duty 
to be a good man, and what man's nature de- 
mands, do it without turning aside ; and speak as 
it seems to thee most just, only let it be with 
good temper and with modesty and without 
hypocrisy. 

6. The nature of the universal has this work 
to do, to remove to that place the things which 
are in this, to change them, to take them away 
here and to carry them there. All things are 
change, yet we need not fear anything new. All 
things are familiar [to us], but the distribution, 
of them also remains the same. 

7. Every nature is contented with itself when 
it goes on its way well ; and a rational nature 
goes on its way well, when in its thoughts it 
assents to nothing false or uncertain, and when 
it directs its movements to social acts onl}'', and 
when it confines its desires and aversions to the 
things which are in its power, and when it is 
satisfied with everything that is assigned to_ it 
by the common nature. For of this common 
nature every particular nature is a part, as the 
nature of the leaf is a part of the nature of the 



126 THOUFHTS OF THE EMPFBOB. 

plant ; ex 3ept that in the plant the nature of 
the leaf i^ a part of a nature which has not per- 
ception o: reason, and is subject to be impeded ; 
but the n iture of man is part of a nature which 
is not subject to impediments, and is intelligent 
«and just, dnce it gives to everything in equal 
portions f nd according to its worth times, sub- 
stance, ca.ise [form], activity, and incident. But 
examine, not to discover that any one thing 
compared with a.ny other single thing is equal 
in all res jects, but by taking all the parts to- 
gether of one thing and comparing them with all 
the parts together of another. 

8. Tho 1 hast not leisure [or ability] to read. 
But thou hast leisure [or ability] to check arro- 
gance : th 3U hast leisure to be superior to pleas- 
ure and pain : thou hast leisure to be superior 
to love of fame, and not to be vexed at stupid 
and ungrateful people, nay even to care for 
them. 

9. Let no man any longer hear thee finding 
fault with the court life or with thy own. (v. 
16.) 

16. Repentance is a kind of self-reproof for 
having neglected something useful ; but that 
which is good must be something useful, and 
the perfect good man should look after it. But 
no such man would ever repent of having refus- 
ed any sensual pleasure. Pleasure then is 
neither good nor useful. 

11. This tiling, what is it in itself, in its own 
constitution ? What is its substance and mate- 
rial ? And what its causal nature [or form] ? 
And what is it doing in the world? And how 
long does it subsist ? 

12. When thou risest from sleep with reluc- 
tance, remember that it is according to thy con- 
stitution and according to human nature to per- 
form social acts, but sleeping is common also to 
irrational animals. But that which is according 
to each individual's nature, is also more pecul- 



M. AUBELITTS ANTONmUS X 7 

iarly its own, and more suitable to its nature, 
and indeed also more agreeable. 

13. Constantly, and, if it be possible, on tno 
occasion of every impression on the soul, apply 
to it the principles of Physic, of Moral and of 
Dialectic. 

14. Whatever man thou meetest with, imme- 
diately say to thyself : What opinions has thia 
man about good and bad ? For if with respect 
to pleasure and pain and the causes of each, and 
with respect to fame and ignominy, death and 
life he has such and such opinions, it will seem 
nothing wonderful or strange to me, if he does 
such and such things ; and [ shall bear in mind 
that he is compelled to do so. 

15. Remember that as it is a shame to he sur- 
prised if the fig-tree produces figs, so it is to be 
surprised if the world produces such and such 
tilings of which it is productive ; and for the 
physician and the helmsman it is a shame to be 
surprised, if a man has a fever, or if the wind is 
unfavorable. 

16. Remember that to change thy opinion and 
to follow him who corrects thy error is as consist- 
ent with freedom as it is to persist in thy error. 
For it is thy own, the activity which is exerted 
according to thy own movement and judgment, 
and indeed according to thy own understanding 
too. 

17. If a thing is in thy own power, why dost 
thou do it ? but if it is in the power of another, 
whom dost thou blame ? the atoms [chance] or 
the gods ? Both are foolish. Thou must blame 
nobody. For if thou canst, correct [that which 
is the cause] ; but if thou canst not do this, cor- 
rect at least the thing itself ; but if thou canst 
not do even this, of what use is it to thee to 
find fault ? for nothing should be done without 
a purpose. 

18. That which has died falls not out of the 
universe. If it stays here, it also changes 
here, and is dissolved into its proper partB» 



128 THOVGBTS OF TEE EMPEEOB. 

whicli are elements of the universe and of thy- 
self. And these too change, and thy murmur 
not. 

19. Everythmg exists for some end, a horse, a 
vine. Why dost thou wonder ? Even the sun 
will say, I am for some purpose, tind the rest of 
the gods will say the same. For what purpose 
then art thou ? to enjoy pleasure ? See if com- 
mon sense allows this. 

20. Nature has had regard in everything no 
less to the end than to the beginning and the 
continuance, just like the man who throws up a 
ball. What good is it then for the ball to be 
thrown up, or harm for it to come down, or 
even to have fallen? and what good is it to the 
bubble while it holds together, or what harm 
when it is burst ? The same may be said of a 
light also. 

21. Turn it [the body] inside out, and see 
what kind of thing it is ; and when it has grown 
old, what kind of things it becomes, and when 
it is diseased. 

Short lived are both the praiser and the prais- 
ed, and the rememberer and the remembered : 
and all this in a nook of this part of the world ; 
and not even here do all agree, no not any one 
with himself: and the whole earth too is a 
point. 

22. Attend to the matter which is before thee, 
whether it is an opinion or an act or a word. 

Thou sufferest tliis justly : for thou choosest 
rather to become good to-morrow than to be 
good to day. 

23. Am I doing anything ? I do it with refer- 
ence to the good of mankind. Does anything 
happen to me ? I receive it and refer it to the 
gods, and the source of all things, from which 
all that happens is derived. 

24. Such as bathing appears to thee — oil, 
sweat, dirt, filthy water, all things disgusting, — 
BO is every part of life and everything. 

25. Lucilla saw Verus die, and then Lucilla 



Jf. ATJRELWB ANTOmNUS, 129 

died. Secunda saw Maximus die, and then Se- 
cunda died. Epitynchanus saw Diotimus die, 
and then Epitynchanus died. Antoninus saw 
Faustina die, and then Antoninus died. Such 
is everything. Celer saw Hadrianus die, and 
then Celer died. And those sharp-witted men, 
either seers or men inflated with pride, where 
are they? for instance the sharp-witted men, 
Charax and Demetrius the Platonist and Eudse- 
mon, and any one else like them. All ephemeral, 
dead long ago. Some indeed have not been 
remembered even for a short time, and others 
have become the heroes of fables, and again 
others have disappeared even from fables. Re- 
member this then, that this little compound, 
thyself, must either be dissolved, or thy poor 
breath must be extinguished, or be removed 
and placed elsewhere. 

26. It is satisfaction to a man to do the proper 
work of a man. Now it is a proper work of a 
man to be benevolent to his own kind, to despise 
the movements of the senses, to form a just judg- 
ment of plausible appearances, and to take a 
survey of the nature of the universe and of the 
things which happen in it. 

27. There are three relations [between the© 
and other things] : the one to the body ^ which 
surrounds thee ; the second to the divine cause 
from which all things come to all ; and the third 
to those who live with thee. 

28. Pain is either an evil to the body — then 
let the body say what it thinks of it — or to the 
soul ; but it is in the power of the soul to main- 
tain its own serenity and tranquillity, and not to 
think that jiain is an evil. For every judgment 
and movement and desire and aversion is with- 
in, and no evil ascends so high. 

29. Wipe out thy imaginations by often say- 

' The text has oXnov M'hich in Antoninus means "form." 
"formal." Accordingly Schulze recommends either Valk- 
enaer's emendation ayyelov, "body," or Corae's »ia/d,ri»» 
Compare xii. 13, x. 88. 



130 TBOUGHTS OF THE EMFEROlt 

-ing to thyself : now it is in my power to let no 
badness be in this soul, nor desire nor any per* 
turbation at all ; but looking at all things I see 
what is their nature, and I use each according 
to its value. — Remember this power which thou 
hast from nature. 

30. Speak both in the senate and to every 
man, whoever he may be, appropriately, not 
with any affectation : use plain discourse. 
. 31. Augustus' court, wife, daughter, descend- 
ants, ancestors, sister, Agrippa, kinsmen, inti- 
mates, friends, Arius, Maecenas, physicians and 
sacrificing priests — the whole court is dead. 
Then turn to the rest, not considering the death 
of a single man, [but of a whole race,] as of the 
Pompeii ; and that which is inscribed on the 
tombs. The last of his race. Consider what 
trouble those before them have had that they 
might leave a successor ; and then, that of neces- 
sity some one must be the last. Again here 
consider the dearth of a whole race. 

32. It is thy duty to order thy life well in 
every single act ; and if every act does its duty, 
as far as is possible, be content ; and no one is 
able to hinder thee so that each act shall not do its 
duty — But something external will stand in the 
.way— Nothing will stand in the way of thy acting 
justly and soberly and considerately — But per- 
.haps some other active power will be hindered— 
Well, but by acquiescing in the hindrance and 
by being content to transfer thy efforts to that 
which is allowed, another o]3portunity'of action 
•is immediately put before thee in place of that 
which was hindered, and one which will adapt 
itself to this order of which we are speaking. 

33. Receive [wealth or prosperity] without 
arrogance ; and be ready to let it go. 

34. If thou didst ever see a hand cut off, or a 
foot, or a head, lying anywhere apart from the 
rest of the body, such does a man make himself, 
as far as he can, who is not content with what 
happens, and separates himself from others, Qj 



M^ AURELius Ayroxiyus. I'st 

does anything unsocial. Suppose thatthoa hast 
detached thyself from the natural unity — ^for 
thou wast made by nature a part, but now thou 
hast cut thyself off — yet here there is this 
beautiful provisioii, that it is in thy power again 
to unite thyself. God has allowed this to no 
other part, after it has been separated and cut 
asunder, to come together again. But consider 
the benevolence with which he has distinguished 
man, for he has put it in his power not to be 
separated at all from the universal ; and when 
he has been separated, he has allowed him to re- 
turn and to be united and to resume his place as 
a part. 

35. As the nature of the universal has given 
to every rational being all the other powers that 
it has,t so we have received from it this power 
also. For as the universal nature converts and 
fixes in its predestined place everything which 
stands in its way and opposes it, and makes such 
things a part of itself, so also the rational animal 
is able to make every hindrance its own material, 
and to use it for such purpose as it may have 
design ed.2 

36. Do not disturb thyself by thinking of the 
whole of thy life. Let not thy thoughts at once 
embrace all the various troubles which thoumayst 
expect to befall thee : but on every occasion ask 
thyself. What is there in this which is intolerable 
and past bea.ring ? for thou wilt be ashamed to 
confess. In the next place remember that neither 
the future nor the past pains thee, but only the 
present. But this is reduced to a very little, if 
thou only circumscribest it, and chidest thy mind, 
if it is unable to hold out against even this. 

37. Does Panthea or Pergaraus noAvsit by the 
tomb of Verus ? ^ Does Chaurias or Diotimus sit 

2 The text is corrupt at the beginning of the paragraph, 
but the meaning Avill appear if the second \oyiKlM' is 
changed into SXwp: though this change alone will notes- 
tablisii the grammatical completeness of the text. 

2 " Verus " is a conjecture of Saumaise, and perhaps the 
true reading. 



132 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR 

bj the tomb of Hadrianus ? That would be rid- 
iculous. Well, suppose they did sit there, 
would the dead be conscious of it ? and if the 
dead were conscious, would they be pleased? 
and if they were pleased, would that make them 
immortal ? Was it not in the order of destiny 
that these persons too should become old women 
and old men and then die ? What then would 
those do after those were dead? All this is 
foul smell and blood in a bag. 

38. If thou canst see sharp, look and judge 
wisely, f says the philosopher. 

39. In the constitution of the rational animal 
I see no virtue which is opposed to justice ; but 
I see a virtue which is opposed to love of 
pleasure, and that is temperance. 

40. If thou takest away the opinion about that 
which appears to give thee pain, thou thyself 
standest in perfect security — Who is this? self 
— The reason — But I am not reason — Be it so. 
Let then the reason itself not trouble itself. 
But if any other part of thee suffers, let it have 
its own opinion about itself, (vii. 16.) 

41. Hindrance to the perceptions of sense is 
an evil to the animal nature. Hindrance to 
the movements [desires] is equally an evil to 
the animal nature. And something else also is 
equally an impediment and an evil to the consti- 
tution of plants. So then that wliich is a hin- 
drance to the intelligence is an evil to the intel- 
ligent nature. Apply all these -things then to 
thyself. Does pain or sensuous pleasure affect 
thee ? The senses will look to that. — Has any 
obstacle opposed thee in thy efforts towards an 
object? if indeed thou wast making. .this effort 
absolutely [unconditionally, or, without any 
reservation], certainly this obstacle is an evil to 
thee considered as a rational animal. But if thou 
takest [into consideration] the usual course of 
things, thou hast not yet been injured nor even 
impeded. The things however which are proper 
to the understanding no ^one is. used to impede,] 



Jtf. AURELIUS ANTONINUS. 13 J 

for neither fire nor iron nor tyrant nor abuse 
touches it in any way. When it has been made 
a sphere, it continues a sphere, (xi. 12.) 

42. It is not fi; that I slioulclgive myself pain, 
for I have nevei intentionally given pain even 
to another. 

43. Different things delight different people. 
But it is my delight to keep the ruling faculty 
sound without turning away either from any 
man or from anj of the things which happen to 
men, but looking at and receiving all with wel- 
come eyes and ising everything according to 
its value. 

44. See that thou secure this present time to 
thyself : for thos'i who rather pursue posthumous 
fame do not consider that the men of after time 
will be exactly such as these whom they cannot 
bear now ; and both are mortal. And what is 
it in any way to thee if these men of after time 
utter this or that sound or have this or that 
opinion about thee ? 

45. Take me and cast me where thou wilt ; 
for there I shall keep my divine part tranquil, 
that is, content, if it can feel and act conform- 
ably to its proper constitution. Is this [change 
of place] sufficient reason why my soul should 
1)6 unhappy and Avorse than it was, depressed, 
expanded, shrinking, affrighted ? and what wilt 
thou find which is sufficient reason for this? * 

46. Nothing can happen to any man which is 
not a human accident, nor to an ox which is not 
according to the nature of an ox, nor to a vine 
which is not according to the nature of a 
vine, nor to a stone which is not proper to 
a stone. If then there happens to each thing 
both what is usual and natural, why shouldst 
thou complain? For the common nature brings 
nothing which may not be borne by thee. 

* bfyyofjAvq In this passage seems to have a passive sense. 
It is difficult to find an apt expression for it and some of the 
other words. A comparison with xi. 12, wiU help to expiate 
the meauing. 



■ tSi TffOUOSTS OF THE EMPEBOB 

47. If thou art pained b j any external thing, 
it is not this thing that disturbs thee, but thy 
own judgment about it. And it is in thy power 
to wipe out this judgment now. But if any- 
thing in thy own disposition gives thee pain, 
who hinders thee from correcting thy opinion ? 
And even if thou art pained because thou art 
not doing some particular thing which seems to 
thee to be right, why dost thou not rather act 
than complain ? — But some insuperable obstacle 
is in the way ? — Do not be grieved then, for the 
cause of its not being done depends not on thee 
— But it is not worth while to live, if this can? 
not be done — Take thy departure then from life 
contentedly, just as he dies who is in full activity 
and well-pleased too with the things which are 
obstacles. 

48. Remember that the ruling faculty is in- 
vincible, when self-collected it is satisfied with 
itself, if it does nothing which it does not choose 
to do, even if it resist from mere obstinacy. 
What then will it be when it forms a judgment 
about anything aided by reason and deliberately ? 
therefore the mind which is free from passions 
is a citadel, for man has nothing more secure 
to which he can fly for refuge and for the future 
be inexpugnable. He then who has not seen 
this is an ignorant man ; but he who has seen it 
and does not fly to this refuge is unhappy. 

49. Say nothing more to thyself than what the 
first appearances report. Suppose that it has 
been reported to thee that a certain person 
speaks ill of thee. This has been reported ; but 
that thou hast been injured, that has not been 
reported. I see that my child is sick. I do see ; 
but that he is in danger, I do not see. Thus 
then always abide by the first appearances, and 
add nothing thyself from within, and then 
nothing happens to thee. Or rather add some- 
thing, like a man who knows everything that 
happens in the World. 

50. A cucumber is bitter — Throw it away.— 



M. AURELIUS AN-TONINUS. 135 

There are briers in the road ■— Turn aside ivom 
them.-^This is enough. Do not add, And why 
were such things made in the world ? For thou 
wilt be ridiculed by a man who is acquainted 
with nature, as thou wouldst be ridiculed by a 
carpenter and shoemaker if thou didst find fault 
because thou seest in their workshop shavings 
and cuttings from the things which they make. 
And yet they have places into which they can 
throw these shavings and cuttings ; but the 
universal nature has no external space ; now the 
wondrous part of her art is that though she has 
circumscribed herself, everything within her 
which appears to decay and to grow old and to 
be useless she changes into herself, and again 
makes other new things from these very same, 
80 that she requires neither substance from with- 
out nor wants a place into which she may cast 
that which decays. She is content then with her 
own space, and her own matter and her own art. 

61. Neither in thy actions be sluggish nor in 
thy conversation without method, nor wandering 
in thy thoughts, nor let there be in thy soul in- 
ward contention nor external effusion, nor in Hi© 
be so busy as to have no leisure. 

Suppose that men kill thee, cut thee in pieces, 
curse thee. What then can these things do to 
prevent thy mind from remaining pure, wise, 
sober, just ? For instance, if a man should stand 
by a limpid pure spring, and curse it, the spring 
never ceases sending up potable water ; and if 
he should cast clay into it or filth, it will speed- 
ily disperse them and wash them out, and will 
not be at all polluted. How then shalt thou 
possess a perpetual fountain [and not a mere 
well] ? By forming thyself hourly to freedom 
conjoined with benevolence, simplicity, and mod- 
esty. 

52. He who does not know what the world is, 
does not know where he is. And he who does 
not know for what purpose the world exists, does 
not know who he is, nor what the world is. But 



136 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROB 

he who has failed in any one of these things 
could not even say for what purpose he exists 
himself. Wliat then dost thou think of him who 
[avoids or] seeks the praise of those who applaud, 
of men who know not either where they are or 
Tivho they are. 

■ 53. Dost thou wish to be praised by a man who 
curses himself thrice every hour? wouldst thou 
wish to please a man who does not please him- 
self? Does a man pleai^e himself who repents 
of nearly everything that he dees ? 

54. No longer let thy breathing only act in 
concert with the air which surrounds thee, but 
let thy intelligence also now be in harmony with 
the intelliorence which embraces all things. For 
the intelligent power is no less diffused in all 
parts and pervades all things for him who is 
willing to draw it to him than the aerial power 
for him who is able to respire it. 

55. Generally, wickedness does no harm at all 
to the universe ; and particularly, the wickedness 
[of one man] does no harm to another. It is 
only harmful to him who has it in his power to 
be released from it, as soon as he shall choose. 

56. To my own free will the free will of 
my neighbor is just as indifferent as his breath 
and his flesh. For though we are made espe- 
cially for the sake of one another, still the ruling 
power of each of us has its own office, for other- 
wise my neighbor's wickedness would be my 
harm, which god has not willed in order that my 
tinhappiness may not depend on another. 

. 57. The sun appears to be poured down, and 
in 3,11 directions indeed it is diffused, yet it is 

•not effused. For this diffusion is extension : 
Accordingly its rays are called Extensions 

. [dKTiws] because they are extended [dTro vod 
iKTeiveffdai ] .* But ouc may judge what kind of 
a thing a ray is, if he looks at the sun's light 
passing through a narrow opening into a dark- 
ened room, for it is extended in a right line, and 
* A piece of bad etymology. 



M. AUBELIUS ANTONINUS. 137 

as it were is divided wlien it meets with a solid 
body which stands in the way and intercepts 
the air beyond ; but there the light remains 
fixed and does not glide or fall off. Such then 
ought to be the outpouring and diffusion of the 
understanding, and it should in no way be an 
effusion, but an extension, and it should make 
no violent or impetuous collision with the ob- 
stacles whicli are in its way; nor yet fall down, 
but be fixed and enlighten that which receives 
it. For a body will deprive itself of the illumina- 
tion, if it does not admit it. 

58. He who fears death either fears the loss 
of sensation or a different kind of sensation. 
But if thou shalthave no sensation, neither wilt 
thou feel any harm ; and if thou shalt acquire 
another kind of sensation, thou wilt be a differ- 
ent kind of living being and thou wilt not cease 
to live. 

59. Men exist for the sake of one another. 
Teach them then or bear with them. 

60. In one way an arrow moves, in another 
way the mind. The mind indeed, both when it 
exercises caution and when it is employed about 
inquiry, moves straight onward not the less, and 
to its object. 

61. Enter into every man's ruling faculty ; 
and also let every other man enter into thifi^ 



1B8 TBOVGStS OF TEE UMPSBOIt. 



IX. 

Hb who acts unjustly acts impiously. For 
«ince the universal nature has made rational an- 
imals for the sake of one another to help one 
another according to their deserts, but in no 
way to injure one another, he who transgresses 
her will, is clearly guilty of impiety towards 
the highest divinity. And he too who lies is 
guilty of impiety to the same divinity ; for the 
universal nature is the nature of all things that 
B,ve ; and all things that are have a relation to 
all things that come into existence. And fur- 
ther, this universal nature is named truth and is 
the prime cause of all things that are true. He 
then who lies intentionally is guilty of impiety 
inasmuch as he acts unjustly by deceiving; and 
he also who lies unintentionally, inasmuch as he 
is at variance with the universal nature, and in- 
asmuch as he disturbs the order by fighting 
against the nature of the world ; for he fights 
against it, who is moved of himself to that which 
is contrary to truth, for he had received powers 
from nature through the neglect of which he is 
not able now to distinguish falsehood from truth. 
And indeed he who pursues pleasure as good, 
and avoids pain as evil is guilty of impiety. 
For of necessity such a man must often find 
fault with the universal nature, alleging that it 
assigns things to the bad and the good contrary 
to their deserts, because frequently the bad are 
in the enjoyment of pleasure and possess the 
things which procure pleasure, but the good 
have pain for their share and the things which 
cause pain. And further, he who is afraid of 
pain will sometimes also be afraid of some of th^ 



things which will happen in the world, and even 
this is impiety. And he who pursues pleasure^ 
will not abstain from injustice, and this is 
plainly impiety. Now with respect to the things 
towards which the universal nature is equally 
affected, — for it would not have made both, un- 
less it was equally affected towards both, — to- 
wards these they who wish to follow nature 
should be of the same mind with it, and equally 
affected. With respect to pain then and pleas- 
ure or death and life or honor and dishonor, 
which the universal nature employs equally, 
whoever is not equally affected is manifestly 
acting impiousl}'. And I say that the universal 
nature employs them equally, instead of saying 
that tliey liappen alike to those who are pro- 
duced in continuous series and to those who 
come after them by virtue of a certain original 
movement of providence, according to which it 
moved from a certain beginning to this ordering 
of thing^s, having^ conceived certain reasons of 
the things which were to be, and having deter- 
mined generative powers of substances and 
changes and such like successions. 

2. It would be a man's happiest lot to depart 
from mankind without having had any taste of 
lying and hypocrisy and luxury and pride. 
However to breathe out one's life when a man 
has had enough of these things is the next best 
voyage, as the saying is. Hast thou determined 
to abide with vice, and has not experience yet 
induced thee to fly from this pestilence ? For 
the destruction of the understanding is a pesti- 
lence, much more indeed than any such corrup- 
tion and change of this atmosphere which sur- 
rounds us. Fur this corruption is a pestilence 
of animals in so far as they are animals ; but the 
other is a pestilence of men in so far as they are 
men. 

3. Do not despise death, but be well content 
witii it, since this too is one of those things 
which nature wills. For such as it is to be 



140 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEBOB. 

young and to grow old, and to increase and to 
reach maturity, and to have teeth and beard and 
gray hairs, and to beget and to be pregnant and 
to bring forth, and all the other natural opera- 
tions which the seasons of thy life bring, such 
also is dissolution. This then is consistent with 
the character of a reflecting man to be neither 
careless nor impatient nor contemptuous with 
respect to death, but to wait for it as one of the 
operations of nature. As thou now waitest for 
the time when the child shall come out of thy 
wife's womb, so be ready for the time when thy 
soul shall fall out of this envelope. But if thou 
requirest also a vulgar kind of comfort which 
shall reach thy heart, thou wilt be made best 
reconciled to death by observing the objects 
from which thou art going to be removed and 
the morals of those with whom thy soul will no 
longer be mingled. For it is no way right to 
be offended with men, but it is thy duty to care 
for them and to bear with them gently ; and yet 
to remember that thy departure will be not from 
men who have the same principles as thyself. 
For this is the only thing, if there be any, which 
could draw us the contrary way and attach us 
to life, to be permitted to live with those who 
have the same principles as ourselves. But 
now thou seest how great is the trouble arising 
from the discordance of those who live together, 
so that thou mayst sa3% Come quick, O death, 
lest perchance I too should forget myself. 

4. He who does wrong does wrong against 
himself. He who acts unjustly acts unjustly to 
himself, because he makes himself bad. 

5. Pie often acts unjustly who does not do a 
certain thing; not only he who does a certain 
thing. 

6. Thy present opinion founded on under- 
standing, and thy present conduct directed to 
social good, and thy present disposition of con- 
tentment with everything which happens f— 
-iiat is enough. 



M. AURELIUS ANTONINUS. 141 

7. Wipe out imagination : check desire ; ex- 
tinguish appetite : keep the ruling faculty in its 
own power. 

8. Among the animals which have not reason 
one life is distributed ; but among reasonable 
animals one intelligent soul is distributed : just 
as there is one earth of all things which are of 
an earthly nature, and we see by one light, and 
breathe one air, all of us that have the faculty 
of vision and all that have life. 

9. All things which participate in anything 
which is common to them all move towards that 
which is of the same kind with themselves. Ev- 
erything which is earthy turns towards the 
earth, everything which is liquid flows together, 
and everything which is of an aerial kind does 
the same, so that they require something to 
keep them asunder and the application of force. 
Fire indeed moves upwards on account of the 
elemental fire, but it is so ready to be kindled 
together with all the fire which is here, that 
even every substance which is somewhat dry, is 
easily ignited, because there is less mingled with 
it of that which is a hindrance to ignition. Ac- 
cordingly then everything also which partici- 
pates in the common intelligent nature moves in 
like manner towards that which is of the same 
kind with itself, or moves even more. For so 
much as it is superior in comparison with all 
other things, in the same degree also is it more 
ready to mingle with and to be fused with that 
which is akin to it. Accordingly among animals 
devoid of reason we find swarms of bees, and 
herds of cattle, and the nurture of young birds, 
and in a manner, loves ; for even in aminals 
there are souls, and that power which brings 
them together is seen to exert itself in the supe- 
rior degree, and in such a way as never has 
been observed in plants nor in stones nor in 
trees. But in rational animals there are politi- 
cal communities and friendships, and familica 
and meetings of people ; and in wars treaties anc^ 



142 TEOTJQHTS OF TB:E EMP:EllOIi 

armistices. But in tlie things which are still 
superior, even though they are separated from 
one another, unity in a manner exists, as in the 
stars. Thus the ascent to the higher degree is 
able to produce a sympathy even in things 
which are separated. See tlien what now takes 
place. For only intelligent animals have now 
forgotten this mutual 'desire and inclination, 
and in them alone the property of flowing to- 
gether is not seen. But still though men strive 
to avoid [this union], they are caught and held 
by it, for their nature is too strong for them ; 
and thou wilt see what I say, if thou only ob- 
servest. Sooner then will one find anything 
earthly which comes in contact with no earthly 
tiling than a man altogether separated from 
other men. 

10. Both man and god and the universe pro- 
duce fruit ; at the proper seasons each produces 
it. But if usage has especially fixed these terms 
to the vine and like things, this is nothing. Rea- 
son produces fruit both for all and for itself, 
and there are produced from it other things of 
the same kind as reason itself. 

11. If thou art able, correct by teacliing those 
who do wrong; but if thou canst not, remem- 
ber that indulgence is given to thee for this pur- 
pose. And the gods too are indulgent to such 
persons ; and for some purposes they even help 
them to get health, wealth, reputation ; «o kind 
they are. And it is in thy power also ; or say, 
who hinders thee ? 

12. Labor not as one who is wretched, nor yet 
as one who would be pitied or admired : but di- 
rect thy will to one thing only, to put thyself 
in motion and to check thyself, as the social 
reason requires. 

13. To-day I have got out of all trouble, or 
rather I have cast out all trouble, for it was not 
outside, but within and in my opinions. 

14. All things are the same, familiar in expe- 
rience, and ephemeral in time, and worthless in 



if. AVRELIU8 ANTONINUS. ■ ,143 

the matter. Everything now is just as it was ia 
the time of those whom we have buried. 

15. Things stand outside of us, themselves by 
themselves, neither knowing aught of themselves 
nor expressing any judgment. What is it then 
which does judge about them ? The ruling fac- 
ulty. 

16. Not in passivity, but in activity lie the 
evil and the good of the rational social animal, 
just as his virtue and his vice lie not in passiv- 
ity, but in activity. 

17. For the stone which has been thrown up it 
is no evil to come down, nor indeed any good to 
have been carried up. (viii. 20.) 

18. Penetrate inwards into men's leading prin- 
ciples, and tliou wilt see what judges thou art 
afraid of, and what kind of judges they are of 
themselves. 

19. All things are changing: and thou thyself 
art in continuous mutation and in a manner iu 
continuous destruction, and the universe too. 

20. It is thy duty to leave another man's 
wrongful act there where it is. (vri. 29, ix. 38.) 

21. Termination of activity, cessation, from 
movement and opinion, and in a sense their death 
is no evil. Turn thy thoughts now to the consid- 
eration of thy life, thy life as a child, as a youth, 
thy manhood, thy old age, for in these also every 
change was a death. Is this anything to fear ? 
Turn thy thoughts now to thy life under thy 
grandfather, then to thy life under thy mother, 
then to thy life under thy father ; and as thou 
findest many other differences and changes and 
terminations, ask thyself. Is this anything to 
fear ? In like manner then neither are the ter- 
mination and cessation and change of thy whole 
life a thing to be afraid of ? 

22. Hasten [to examine] thy own ruling fac- 
ulty and that of the universe and that of thy 
neighbor : thy own that thou mayst make it 
just : and that of the universe, that thou mayst 
remember of what thou art a part ; and that of 



144 ' THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROB 

thy neighbor, that thou mayst know whether he 
has acted ignorantly or Avith knowledge, and 
that thou mayst also consider that his ruling fac- 
ulty is akin to thine. 

23. As thou thyself art of a component part of 
a social system, so let every act of thine be a com- 
ponent part of social life. Whatever act of thine 
then has no reference either immediately or re- 
motely to a social end, this tears asunder thy life 
and does not allow it to be one, and it is of the 
nature of a mutiny, just as when in a popular 
assembly a man acting by himself stands apart 
from the general agreement. 

24. Quarrels of little children and their sports, 
and poor spirits carrying about dead bodies [such 
is everything] ; and so what is exhibited in the 
representation of the mansions of the dead^ 
strikes our eyes more clearly. 

25. Examine into the quality of the form of 
an object, and detach it altogether from its ma- 
terial part and then contemplate it ; then deter- 
mine the time, the longest which a thing of this 
peculiar form is naturally made to endure. 

26. Thou has endured infinite troubles through 
not being contented with thy ruling faculty, 
when it does the things which it is constituted 
by nature to do. Bat enough [of this]. 

27. When another blames thee or hates thee, 
or when men say about thee anything injurious, 
approach their souls, penetrate within, and see 
what kind of men they are. Thou wilt discover 
that there is no reason to take any trouble that 
these men may have this or that opinion about 
thee. However thou must be well disposed to- 
wards them, for by nature they are friends. And 
the gods too aid them in all ways, by dreams, by 
signs, towards the attainment of those things on 
which they set a value. 

1 t6 t^i Ne/cutoi may be, as Gataker conjectures, a dram- 
atic representation of tlie state of tlie dead. Scliuize sup- 
posestliat it may be also a reference to the TiiKvta of the 
Odyssey (lib. xi.) 



M. AUBELIUS ANTONINUS. 145 

28. The periodic movements of the universe 
are the same, up and down from age to age. And 
either the universal intelligence puts itself in 
motion for every separate effect, and if this is so, 
be thou content with that which is the result of 
its activity ; or it put itself in motion once, and 
everything else comes by way of sequence ^ 
in a manner : or indivisible elements are the 
origin of all things. — In a word, if there is a god, 
all is well ; and if chance rules, do not thou also 
be governed by it. 

Soon will the earth cover us all : then the 
earth too will change, and the things also which 
result from change Avill continue to change for- 
ever, and these again forever. For if a man 
reflects on the changes and transformations 
winch follow one another like wave after wave 
and their rapidity, he will despise everything 
which is perishable. 

29. The universal cause is like a winter tor- 
rent : it carries everything along with it. But 
how worthless are all these poor people who are 
engaged in matters political, and, as they sup- 
pose, are playing the philosopher! All drivel- 
lers. Well then, man : do what nature now 
requires. Set thyself in motion, if it is in thy 
power, and do not look about thee to see if any 
one will observe it; nor yet expect Plato's Re- 
public : but be content if the smallest thing 
goes on well, and consider such an event to be 
no small matter. For who can change men's 
principles ? and without a change of principles 
what else is there than the slavery of men who 
groan while they pretend to obey ? Come now 
and tell me of Alexander and Philippus and 
Demetrius of Phalerum. They themselves shall 
judge whether they discovered what the uni- 
versal nature required and trained themselves 
accordingly. But if they acted like tragedy 

^ The words which immediately follow Kar^ eraKoXoijd'nfftv 
are corrupt. But the meaning is hardly doubtful. (Com- 
pare vii. 75.' - „ 



14,6 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEBOS 

heroes, no one has condemned me to imitate 
them. Simple and modest is the work of philos- 
ophy. Draw me not aside to insolence and 
pride. 

80. Look down from above on the countless 
herds of men and their countless solemnities, 
and the infinitely varied voy agings in storms 
and calms, and the differences among those who 
are born, who live together, and die. And con- 
sider too the life lived by others in olden 
time, and the life of those who will live after 
thee, and the life now lived among barbarous 
nations, and how many know not even thy 
name, and how many will soon forget it, and 
how they who perhaj^s now are praising thee 
will very soon blame thee, and that neither a 
posthumous name is of any value, nor reputa- 
tion, nor anything else. 

31. Let there be freedom from perturbations 
with respi^ct to the things which come from 
the external cause ; and let there be justice in 
the things done by virtue of the internal cause, 
that is, lev- there be movement and action ter- 
minating :.n this, in social acts, for this is 
according to thy nature. 

32. Thou canst remove out of the way many 
useless things among those which disturb thee, 
for they lie entirely in thy opinion ; and thou 
wilt then gain for thyself ample space by com- 
prehending the Avliole universe in thy mind and 
by contemplating the eternity of time and ob- 
serving the rapid change of every several thing, 
how short is the time from its birth to its dis- 
solution, and the illimitable time before its birth 
as well as the equally boundless time after its 
dissolution. 

33. All that thou seest will quickly perish, 
and those who have been spectators of its disso- 
lution, will very soon perish too. And he who 
dies at the extremest old age will be brought 
into the same condition with him who died prem- 
aturely. 



M. AUBELIVS ANTOKIKUS. 14T 

34. What are these men's leading principles, 
and about what kind of things are tbiey busy, 
and for what kind of reasons do they love and 
honor ? Imagine that thou seest their poor souls 
laid bare. When they think that the 7" do harm 
by their blame or good by their prais3, what an 
idea ! 

35. Loss is nothino; else than chaig'e. But 
the universal nature delights in change, and in 
obedience to her all things are now lone well, 
and from eternity have been done in like form, 
and will be such to time without end. What 
then dost thou say ? That all things iiave been 
and all things always will be bad, ai id that no 
power has ever been found in so raauy gods to 
rectify these things, but the world has been 
condemned to be bound in never ceasing evil ? 

36. The rottenness of the matter which is the 
substance of everything! water, dust, bones, 
filth : or again, marble rocks, the caUosities of 
the earth ; and gold and silver, the sediments ; 
and garments, only bits of hair; and purple dye, 
blood ; and everything else is of the same kind. 
And that which is of the nature of breath is 
also another thing of the same kind, changing 
fron this to that. 

37. Enough of this wretched life and mur- 
muring and apish tricks. Why art thou dis- 
turbed ? What is there new in this ? What un- 
settles thee ? Is it the form of the thing ? Look 
at it. Or is it the matter ? Look at it. But be- 
sides these there is nothing. Towards the gods 
then now become at last more simple and better. 
It is the same whether we look at these tilings 
for a hundred years or three. 

38. If any man has done wrong, the harm is 
his own. But perhaps he has not done wrong. 

39. Either all things proceed from one intel- 
ligent source and come together as in one body, 
and the part ought not to find fault with what 
is done for the benefit of the whole : or there 
are only atoms and nothing else than mixtui'e 



U8 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROB 

and dispersion. "Why then art tliou disturbed? 
Say to the ruling faculty, Art thou dead, art 
thou corrupted, art thou playing the hypocrite, 
art thou become a beast, dost thou herd and 
feed with the rest ? ^ 

40. Either the gods have no power or they 
have power. If then they have no power, why 
dost thou pray to them? But if they have 
power, why dost thou not pray for them to give 
thee the faculty of not fearing any of the things 
which thou fearest, or of not desiring any of 
the things wJiich thou desirest, or not beinof 
pained at anything, rather than pray that any 
of these things should not happen or happen ? 
for certainly if they can co-operate with men, 
they can co-operate for these purposes. But 
perhaps thou wilt say, the gods have placed 
them in thy power. Well then, is it not better 
to use what is in thy power like a free man, 
than to desire in a slavish and abject way what 
is not in thy power ? And who has told thee 
that the gods do not aid us even in the things 
which are in our power ? Begin then to pray 
for such things and thou wilt see. One man 
prays thus : How shall I be able to lie with that 
woman? Do thou pray thus: How shall I not 
desire to lie with her? Another prays thus, 
How shall I be released from this ? Another 
prays : How shall I not desire to be released ? 
Another thus, How shall I not lose my little 
son? Thou thus. How shall I not be afraid to 
lose him. In fine, turn thy prayers this way, 
and see what comes. 

41. Epicurus says, In my sickness my con- 
versation was not about my bodily sufferings, 
nor, says he, did I talk on such subjects to 
those who visited me , but I continued to dis- 

' There is some corruption r^ the end of th's section. I 
believe that tlie translatioii expresses the emperor's mean* 
ing. Whether iiite,l!''.>^nce rules all things or chance rules, 
a man must not he (iisturbed. He must use the power thai 
he has, aud he tranquil. 



M. AURMLIU8 ANTOm^TIS. 149 

course on the nature of things as before, keep* 
ing to this main point, how tlie mind while 
participating in such movements as go on in the 
poor flesh shall be free from perturbations and 
maintain its proper good. Nor did I, he says, 
give the physicians an opportunity of putting 
on solemn looks, as if they were doing some- 
thing great, but my life went on well and hap- 
pily. Do then the same as he did both in 
sickness, if thou art sick, and in any other cir- 
cumstances ; for never to desert philosophy in 
any events that may befall us, nor to hold 
trifling talk either with an ignorant man or 
with one unacquainted with nature, is a prin- 
ciple of all schools of philosophy ; but to be 
intent only on that which thou art now doing 
and on the instrument by which thou doest it. 
42. When thou art offended with any man's 
shameless conduct, immediately ask thyself. Is 
it possible then that shameless men should not 
be in the world ? It is not possible. Do not 
then require what is impossible. For this man 
also is one of those shameless men, who must 
of necessity be in the world. Let the same 
considerations be present to thy mind in the 
case of the knave, and the faithless man, and 
of every man who does wrong in any way. 
For at the same time that thou dost remind 
thyself that it is impossible that such kind of 
men should not exist, thou wilt become better 
disposed towards every one individually. It is 
useful to perceive this too immediately when the 
occasion arises, what virtue nature has given 
to man to oppose to every wrongful act. For 
she has given to man as an antidote, against 
the stupid man mildness, and against another 
kind of man some other power. And in all 
cases it is possible for thee to correct by teach- 
ing the man who is gone astray ; for every man 
who errs misses his object and is gone astray. 
Besides wherein hast thou been injured ? For 
thou wilt find that no one among those against 



whom thou art irritated has done anything by 
wliich thy mind could be made worse ; but that 
wlrich is evil to thee and harmful has its foun- 
dation only in the mind. And what harm is 
done or Mdiat is there strange, if the man who 
has not been instructed does the acts of an un- 
instrncted man ? Consider whether thou shouldst 
not rather blame thyself, because thou didst 
not expect such a man to err in such a way. 
For thou liadst means given thee by thy reason 
to suppose that it was likely that he would com- 
mit this error, and yet thou hast forgotten and 
art amazed that he has erred. But most of all 
when thou blamest a man as faithless or un- 
grateful, turn to thyself. For the fault is man- 
ifestly thy own, whether thou didst trust that 
a man who had such a disposition would keep 
his promise, or when conferring thy kindness 
thou didst not confer it absolutely, nor yet in 
such way as to have received from thy very act 
all the profit. For what more dost thou want 
when thou hast done a man a service? art thou 
not content that thou hast done something con- 
formable to thy nature, and dost thou seek to 
be paid for it? just as if the eye demanded a 
recompense for seeing, or the feet for walking. 
For as these members are formed for a par- 
ticular purpose, and by working according to 
their several constitutions obtain what is their 
own ; so also as man is formed by nature to 
acts of benevolence when he has done anything 
benevolent or in any other way conducive to 
the common interest, he has acted conformably 
to his coustitution and he gets what is his own. 



Jf, AUSSLIUS AJfTONINUB. 161 



Wilt thou then, my soul, never be good and 
simple and one and nuked, more manifest tliau 
the body which surrounds thee ? Wilt thou 
never enjoy an affectionate and contented dis- 
position ? Wilt thou never be full and without 
a want of any kind, longing for nothing more, 
nor desiring anything either animate or inani- 
mate for the enjoyment of pleasures? nor yet de- 
siring time wherein thou shalt liave longer en- 
joyment, or place, or pleasant climate, or s<jciety 
of men with whom thou mayest live in harmony ? 
but wilt thou be satisfied with thy present con- 
dition, and pleased with all that is about thee, 
and wilt thou convince thyself that thou hast 
everything and that it comes from the gods, that 
everj-thing is well for thee and will be well what- 
ever shall please them, and whatever they shall 
give for the conservation of the perfect living 
being, the good and just and beautiful, which 
generates and holds together ail things, and con- 
tains and embraces all things which are dis- 
solved for the production f f other like things? 
Wilt thou never be such that thou shalt so 
dwell in community with gods iind men as neither 
to find fault with them at all nor to be con- 
demned by them ? 

2. Observe what thy nature requires, so far as 
thou art governed by nature only : then do it 
and accept it, if thy nature, so far as thou art a 
living being, shall not be made worse by it. 
And next thou must observe what thy nature 
requires so far as thou art a living being. And 
all this thou mayest nllow thyself, if thy nature, 
«o far as thou art a rational animal, shall not be 
jiWtd^ worse by it. But the rational animal is 



1^2 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR 

consequently also a political [social] animal. 
Use these rules then and trouble thyself about 
nothing else. 

3. Everything which happens either happens 
in such wise that thou art formed by nature to 
bear it, or that thou art not formed by nature 
to bear it. If then it happens to thee in such 
way that thou art formed by nature to bear it, 
do not complain, but bear it as thou art formed 
by nature to bear it. But if it happens in such wise 
that thou art not able to bear it, do not complain, 
for it will perish after it has consumed thee. 
Remember however that thou art formed by 
nature to bear everything, with respect to which 
it depends on thy own opinion to make it endur- 
able and tolerable, by thinking that it is either 
thy interest or thy duty to do this. 

4. If a man is mistaken, instruct him kindly 
and show him his error. But if thou art not 
able, blame thyself, or blame not even thyself. 

5. Whatever may happen to thee, it was pre- 
pared for thee from all eternity; and the impli- 
cation of causes was from eternity spinning the 
thread of thy being and of that which is incident 
to it. (III. 11 ; IV. 26.) 

6. Whether the universe is [a concourse of] 
atoms, or nature [is a system], let this first be 
established, that I am a part of the whole 
which is governed by nature ; next, I am in a 
manner intimately related to the parts which 
are of the same kind with mj^'self. For remem- 
bering this, inasmuch as I am a part, I shall be 
discontented with none of the things which are 
assigned to me out of the whole ; for nothing 
is injurious to the part, if it is for the advantage 
of the whole. For the whole contains noth- 
ing which is not for its advantage; and all 
natures indeed have this common principle, 
but the nature of the universe has this principle 
besides, that it cannot be compelled even 
by any external cause to generate anything 
harmful to itself. Bj remembering then, that I 



M. AUBELIUB ANTONII^U^. l58 

am a part of such a whole, I shall be content 
with everything that happens. -And inasmuch 
as I am in a manner intimately related to the 
parts which are of the same kind with myself, I 
shall do nothing unsocial, but I shall rather di- 
lect myself to the things which are of the same 
kind with myself, and I shall turn all my efforts 
to the common interest, and divert them from 
the contrary. Now if these things are done so, 
life must flow on happily, just as thou mayest 
observe tliat the life of a citizen is happy, who 
ontinues a course of action which is advantage- 
'- to his fellow-citizens, and is content with 
wl. tever the state may assign to him. 

7. The parts of the whole, everything I mean 
. which is naturally comprehended in the universe, 
must of necessity perish; but let this be under- 
stood in this sense, that they must undergo 
change. But if this is naturally both an evil 
and a necessity for the parts, the whole would 
not continue to exist in a good condition, the 
parts being subject to change and constituted so 
as to perish in various ways. For whether did 
nature herself design to do evil to the things 
which are parts of herself, and to make them 
subject to evil and of necessity fall into evil, or 
have such results happened Avithout her know- 
ing it ? Both these suppositions indeed are in- 
credible. But if a man should even drop the 
term Nature [as an efficient power] and should 
speak of these things [change] as natural, even 
then it would be ridiculous to affirm at the same 
time that the parts of the whole are in their 
nature subject to change, and at the same time 
to be sur]3rised or vexed as if something were 
happening contrary to nature, particularly as 
the dissolution of thino-s is into those things of 
which each thing is composed, For there is 
either a dispersion of the elements out of which 
everything has been compounded, or a change 
from the solid to the earthy and from the airy 
t© the aerial, so that these parts are taken back 



154, TBOUGHTS OF TME UMPSBOR 

into the universal reason, whetlier tMs at certain 
periods is consumed by fire or renewed by eter- 
nal changes. And do not imagine that the solid 
and the airy part belong to thee from the time 
of generation. For all this received its accretion 
only yesterday and the day before, as one may say, 
from the food and the air which is inspired. 
This then, which has received [the accretion], 
changes, not that wldch thy mother brought 
forth. But suppose that this [which thy mother 
brought forth] implicates thee very much with 
that other part, which has the peculiar quality 
[of change], this is nothing in fact in the way 
of objection to what is said.^ 

8. When thou hast assumed these names, 
good, modest, true, rational, a man of equa- 
nimity, and magnanimous, take care that thou 
dost not change these names ; and if thou 
shouldst lose them, quickly return to them. 
And remember that the term Rational was in- 
tended to signify a descriminating attention to 
every several thing and freedom from negli- 
gence: and that Equanimity is the voluntary ac- 
ceptance of the things which are assigned to thee 
by the common nature ; and that Magnanimity 
is the elevation of the intelligent part above the 
pleasurable or painful sensations of the flesh 
and above that poor thing called fame, and 
death, and all such things. If then thou main- 
tainest thyself in the possession of these names, 
without desiring to be called by these names by 
others, thou wilt be another person and wilt 
enter on another life. For to continue to be 
such as thou hast hitherto been, and to be torn 
in pieces and defiled in such a life, is the charac- 
ter of a very stupid man and one overfond of 
his life, and like those half-devoured fighters 
with wild beasts, who though covered with 
wounds and gore, still entreat to be kept to the 

1 The end of this section is perhaps corrupt. The mean- 
Ing is very obscure. I have given that meaning which Ap^ 
j^»xu to be consifttent with tb« whole argumenU 



Jf. AVRHLIUS ANTON JNirS. 155 

following day, though they will be exposed ia 
the same state to the same claws and bites. 
Therefore fix thyself in the possession of these 
few names ; and if thou art able to abide in 
them, abide as if thou wast removed to certain 
islands of the Happy .^ But if thou shalt per- 
ceive that thou fallest out of them and dust not 
maintain thy hold, go courageously into some 
nook where thou shalt maintain them, or even 
depart at once from life, not in passion, but with 
simplicity and freedom and modesty, after doing 
this one [laudable] thing at least in thy life, to 
have gone out of it thus. In order however to 
the remembrance of these names, it will greatly 
help thee, if thou rememberest the gods and 
that they wish not to be flattered, but wish all 
reasonable beings to be made like themselves ; 
and if thou rememberest that what does tlie 
work of a fig-tree is a fig-tree, and that what 
does the work of a dog is a dog, and that what 
does the work of a bee is a bee, and that Avhat 
does the work of a man is a man. 

9. Mimi,^ war, astonishment, torpor, slavery, 

* Tbe islands of the Happy or tlie Fortuiiatae Insulae are 
spoken of by the Greek and Roman writers. Tliey were the 
abode of Heroes, like Achilles ami Diomedes. as we see in 
the Scolion of Harmodius and ArisLogiton. bertorius heard 
of the islands at Cadiz from some sailoi-s who had been 
there, and he had a wish to go and live in them and rest 
from liis troubles. (Plutarch, Sertorius, c. 8.) In the Odys- 
sey, Proteus told Menelaus that he should not die in Argos, 
but he removed to a place at the boundary of the 6arth where 
Khadamanthus dwelt : (Odyssey, iv.565.) 

For there in sooth man's life is easiest : 
Nor snow nor raging storm nor rain is there, 
But ever gently breathing gales of Zephyr 
Oceanus sends up to gladden man. 

It is certain that the writer of the Odyssey only follows 
some old legend without having any knowledge of any place 
which corresponds to liis description. The two islands 
which Sertorius heard of may be iladeira and the adjacent 
island. 

^ Corae conjectured jUtiros *' hatred " in place of MimI, 
Koman plays in which action and gesticulation were all OT 
nearly all, 



156; THOUGHTS OF THE EMPSBOB 

will daily wipe out those holy principles of thine. 
f How many things without studying nature 
dost thou imagine and how many dost thou 
neglect?* But it is thy duty so to look on and 
so to do everything, that at the same time the 
power of dealing with circumstances is per'^ect- 
ed, and the contemplative faculty is exerc. "'d, 
and the confidence which comes from the Knc ^- 
edge of each several thing is maintained wii- 
out showing it, but j^etnot concealed. For when 
wilt thou enjoy simplicity, when gravity, and 
when the knowledge of every several thing, both 
what it is in substance, and what place it has in 
the universe, and how long it is formed to exist 
and of what things it is compounded, and to 
whom it can belong, and who are able both to 
give it and take it away ? 

10. A spider is proud when it has caught a 
fly, and another when he has caught a poor 
hare, and another when he has taken a little 
fish in a net, and another when he has taken 
wild boars, and another when he has taken bears 
and another when he has taken Sarmatians. 
Are not these robbers if thou examinest their 
principles ?^ 

11. Acquire the contemplative way of seeing 
how all things change into one another, and 
constantly attend to it, and exercise thyself 
about this part [of philosophy]. For nothing 
is so much adapted to produce magnanimity. 
Such a man has put off the body, and as he sees 
that he must, no one knows how soon, go away 
from among men and leave everything here, he 
gives himself up entirely to just doing in all his 
actions, and in everything else that happens he 
resigns himself to the universal nature. But as 
to Avhat any man shall say or think about him 
or do against him, he never even thinks of it, 

* This is corrupt. 

^ Marcus means to say that conquerors are robbers. He 
himself warred against Sarmatians, an4 was ft robber, as h.^ 
says, Ulie tlie rest, 



M. AUBELIUS ANTONINUS. 157 

being himself contented with these two things, 
with acting justly in what he now does, and 
beiiig satislied with what is now assigned to him ; 
and he lays aside all distracting and busy pur- 
suits and desires nothing else than to accom- 
plish the straight course through the law,^ and 
by accomplishing the straight course to follow 
god. 

12. What need is there of suspicious fear, 
since it is in thy power to inquire what oughb 
to be done ? And if thou seest clear, go by this 
way content, witliout turning back: but if thoq 
dost not see clear, stop and .take the best ad- 
visers. But if any other things oppose thee, go 
on according to thy powers with due considera- 
tion, keeping to that which appears to be just. 
For it is best to reach tlx'.s object, and if thou 
dost fail, let thy failure be in attempting this. 
He who follows reason in all things is both tran- 
quil and active at the same time, and also cheer- 
ful and collected. 

13. Inquire of thyself as soon as thou wakest 
from sleep, whether it will make any difference 
to thee, if another does what is just and right. 
It will mr.ke no difference. 

Hast thou forgotten tlxat those who assume 
arrogant airs in bestowing their praise or blame 
on others, are such as they are at bed and at 
board, and hast thou forgotten what they do, 
and what they avoid and what they pursue, and 
how they steal and how they rob, not with 
hands and feet, but with their most valuable 
part, by means of which there is produced, when 
a man chooses, fidelity, modesty, truth, law, a 
good daemon [happiness] ? (vii. 17.) 

14. To her who gives and takes back all, to 
nature, the man who is instructed and modest 
says : Give what thou wilt ; take back what 
thou wilt. And he says this not proudly, but 
obediently and well pleased with her. 

•5 Bv the law, he means the divine law, obedience to th« 
Will of God. 



158. THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR 

15. Sbcrt is the little which remains to thee 
of life. Live as on a mountain. For it makes 
no difference whether a man lives there or here, 
if he lives everywhere in the world as in a state 
[political community]. Let men see, let them 
know a real man who lives according to nature. 
If they cannot endure him, let them kill him. 
For that is better than to live thus [as men 
do]. 

16. No longer talk about the kind of man 
that a good man ought to be, but be such. 

17. Constantly contemplate the whole of time 
and the whole of substance, and consider that 
all individual things as to substance are a grain 
of a fig, and as to time, the turning of a gimlet. 

18. Look at everything that exists and ob- 
serve that it is already in dissolution and in 
change and as it were putrefaction or dispersion, 
or that everything is so constituted by nature 
as to die. 

19. Consider what men are when they are 
eating, sleeping, generating, easing themselves 
and so forth. Then wliat kind of men they are 
when they are imperious f and arrogant, or an- 
gry and scolding from their elevated place. But 
a short time ago to how many they were slaves 
and for what things ; and after a little time con- 
sider in what a condition thej^ will be. 

20. That is for the good of each thing, which 
the universal nature brings to each. And it is 
for its good at the time when nature brings it. 

21. " The earth loves the shower; " and " the 
solemn aether loves : " and the universe loves 
to make whatever is about to be. I say then to 
the universe, that I love as thou lovest. And 
is not this too said, that " this or that loves [is 
wont] to be produced? " '^ 

■^ These words are from Euripides. They are cited by 
Aristotle, Ethic. Nicom. viii. 1. Athenaeus (xiii. 296.), 
and Stobaeus quote seven complete lines beginning ipa fikv 
Sn^pcrv yala. There is a similar fragment of ^schylus. 

It was the fashion of the Stoics to work on the meanings of 
wprds. So Antoninus here takes the verb <f>i.\el, " lovesj" 



M. AUMELIUS ANTOmNUS. 1^9 

22. Either thou livest here and hast already 
accustomed thyself to it, or thou art going away, 
and this was thy own will ; or thou art dying 
and hast discharged thy duty. But besides 
these things there is nothing. Be of good cheer 
then. 

23. Let this always be plain to thee, that this 
piece of land is like any other ; and that all 
things here are the same with things on the top 
of a mountain, or on the sea-shore, or wherever 
thou choosest to be. For thou wilt find just 
what Plato says. Making the walls of the city 
like a shepherd's fold on a mountain. [The 
three last words are omitted. They are unin- 
telligible.] ^ 

24. What is my ruling faculty now to me? 
and of what nature am I now making it ? and 
for what purpose am I now using it? is it void 
of understanding ? is it loosed and rent asunder 
from social life? is it melted into and mixed 
with the poor flesh so as to move together with 
it? 

25. He who flies from his master is a run- 
away ; but the law is inaster, and he who breaks 
the law is a runaway. And he also who is 
grieved or angry or afraid,f is dissatisfied be- 
cause something has been or is or shall be of the 
things which are appointed by him who rules all 
tilings, aud he is Law, and assigns to every man 
what is fit. He then Avho fears or is grieved or 
is angry is a runawa3^^ 

26. A man deposits seed in a worn j and goes 
away, and then another cause takes it. and labors 



wliicli has also the sense of "is wont," "uses," and the 
like. He finds in tlie common language of luaakind a phil- 
osophical truth, and most great truths are exi:ressed in the 
common language of life ; some understand th^m, but most 
people express them without knowing how much they 
mean. 

8 Plato, Theaet. 174 D. E. 

' Antoninus is here playing on the etymoiogy of vSfiot) 
law, assignment, that which assigns (i^^t) to evwy man 
ili§.£ortiofij. 



160 THOUGHTS OF THE EXPEBOIt. 

on it and makes a child. What a thing from such 
a material ! Again, the child passes food down 
through the throat, and then another cause takes 
it and makes perception and motion, and in fine 
life and strength and other things ; how many 
and how strange ! Observe then the things 
■which are produced in such a hidden way, and 
see the power just as we see the power which 
carries things downwards and upwards, not with 
the eves, but still no less plainly. 

27. Constantly consider how all things such 
as they now are, in time past also were; and 
consider that they will be the same again. And 
place before thy eyes entire dramas and stages 
of the same form, whatever thou hast learned 
from thy experience or from older history ; for 
example the whole court of Hadiianus, and the 
whole court of Antoninus, and the whole court 
of Philippus, Alexander, Croesus ; for all those 
were such dramas as we see now, only with dif- 
ferent actors. 

28. Imagine every man who is grieved at any- 
thing or discontented to be like a pig which is 
sacrificed, and kicks and screams. 

Like this pig also is he who on his bed in 
silence laments the bonds in which we are held. 
And consider that only to the rational animal is 
it given to follow voluntarily what happens ; but 
simply to follow is a necessity imposed on all. 

29. Severally on the occasion of everything 
that thou doest pause and ask thyself, if death 
is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of 
this. 

30. When thou art offended at any man's 
fault, forthwith turn to thyself and reflect in 
what like manner thou dost err thyself ; for ex- 
ample, in thinking that money is a good thing, 
or pleasure, or reputation and the like. For by 
attending to this thou wilt quickly forget thy 
anger, if this consideration also is added, that 
the man is compelled : for what else could he 



M, AUSELItTS AJ^TomNUa, l^Jt 

dp?, or, if thou art able, take away from him tl|© 
compulsion. 

31. When thou hast seen Satyron the Socratic,t 
think of eioher Eutyches or Hymen, and when 
thou hast been Euphrates, think of Eutycljion or 
Silvanus, and when thou hast seen Alciphron 
think of Tropaeophorus, and when thou hast seea 
Xenophon think of Crito or Severus, and when 
thou hast looked on thyself, think of any other 
Gaesar, and in the case of every one do in like 
manner. Then let this thought be in thy mind. 
Where then are those men? Nowhere, ornobody 
knows where. For thus continuously thou wilt 
look at human things as smoke and nothing at 
all ; especially if thou reflectest at the same time 
that what has once changed will never exist 
again in the infinite duration of time. But thou, 
in what a brief space of time is thy existence? 
And why art thou not content to pass through 
this short time in an orderly way ? What matter 
and opportunity [for thy activity] art thou avoid- 
ing ? For what else are all these things, except 
exercises for the reason, when it has viewed 
carefully and by examination into their nature 
the things which happen in life ? Persevere 
then until thou shalt have made these things 
thy own, as the stomach which is strengthened 
makes all things its own, eis the blazing fire 
makes flame and brightness out of everything 
that is thrown into it. 

32. Let it not be in any man's power to say 
truly of thee that thou art not simple or that thou 
art not good ; but let him be a liar whoever shall 
think anything of this kind about thee ; and this 
is altogether in thy power. For who is he that 
shall hinder thee from being good and simple ? 
Do thou only determine to live no longer, unless 
thou shalt be such. For neither does reasoa 
allow [thee to live], if thou art not such. 

33. What is that which as to this material [our 
life] can be done or said in the way most con- 
formable to reason ? For whatever this may be, 

1 



162 THOUGHTS OF IHH; MMP£!ltOM 

it is in tliy power to do it or to say it; and do not 
make excuses that thou art hindered. Thou wilt 
not cease to lament till thy mind is in such a con- 
dition, that, what luxury is to those who enjoy 
pleasure, such shall be to thee, in the matter 
which is subjected and presented to thee, the 
doing of the things which are conformable to 
man's constitution ; for a man ought to consider as 
an enjoyment everything which it is in his power 
to do according to his own nature. And it is in his 
power everywhere. Not, it is not given to a 
cylinder to move everywhere by its own motion, 
nor yet to water nor fire, nor to anything else 
which is governed by nature or an irrational 
soul, for the things which check them and stand 
in the way are many. But intelligence and rea- 
son are able to go through everything that op- 
poses them, and in such manner as they are 
formed by nature and as they choose. Place be- 
fore thy eyes this facility with which the reason 
will be carried through all things, as fire upwards, 
as a stone downwards, as a cylinder down an in- 
clined surface, and seek for nothing further. For 
all other obstacles either affect the body only 
which is a dead thing ; or, except tlirough opin- 
ion and the yielding of the reason itself, they do 
not crush nor do any harm of any kind ; for if 
they did, he who felt it would immediately be- 
come bad. Now in the case of all things which 
have a certain constitution, whatever harm may 
happen to any of them, that which is so affected 
becomes consequently worse ; but in the like 
case, a man becomes both better, if one may say 
so, and more worthy of praise by making a right 
use of these accidents. And finally remember 
that nothing harms him who is really a citizen, 
which does not harm the state ; nor yet does 
anything harm the state, which does not harm 
law [order] ; and of these things which are called 
misfortunes not one harms law. What then does 
not harm law does not harm either state or citizen. 



M. AUBELIUS ANTONINUS. 163 ' 

84. To him who is penetrated by true princi- 
ples even the briefest precept is sufficient, and 
any common precept, to remind him that he should 
be free from grief and fear. For example — 

Leaves, some the wind scatters on the ground — 
So is the race of men,^'' 

Leaves also are thy children ; and leaves too are 
they who cry out as if they were worthy of 
credit and bestow their praise, or on the con- 
trary curse, or secrei^iy * blame and sneer ; and 
leaves in like manner are those who shall receive 
and transmit a man's fame to after times. For 
all such things as these " are produced in the 
season of spring," as the poet says ; then the 
wind casts them down ; then the forest produces 
other leaves in their places. But a brief exist- 
ence is common to all things, and yet thou 
avoidest and pursuest all things as if they would 
be eternal. A little time, and thou shalt close 
thy eyes ; and him who has attended thee to thy 
grave another soon will lament. 

35. The healthy eye ought to see all visible 
things and not to say, I wish for green things ; 
for tliis is the condition of a diseased eye. And 
the healthy hearing and smelling ought to be 
ready to perceive all that can be heard and 
smelled. And the healthy stomach ought to be 
with respect to all food just as the mill with re- 
spect to all things which it is formed to grind. 
And accordingly the healthy understanding 
ought to be prepared for everything which hap- 
pens ; but that which says. Let my dear children 
live, and let all men praise whatever I may do, 
is an eye which seeks for green things, or teeth 
which seek for soft things. 

36. There is no man so fortunate that there 
shall not be by him when he is dying some who 
are pleased with what is going to happen. -^^ 
Suppose that he was a good and wise man, will 

» Homer, TL vi. 148. 



164 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEBOR. 

there not be at last some one to say of Jhim, Let 
us at last breathe freely being relieved from this 
school-master. It is true that he was harsh to 
none of us, but I perceived that he tacitly con- 
demns us. — This is what is said of a good man. 
But in our own case how many other things are 
there for which there are many who wish to get 
rid of us. Thou wilt consider this then when 
thou art dying, and thou wilt depart more con- 
tentedly by reflecting thus : I am going away 
from such a life, in which even my associates in 
behalf of whom I have striven so much, prayed, 
and cared, themselves wish me to depart, hoping 
perchance to get some little advantage by it. 
"Why then should a man cling to a longer stay 
here ? Do not however for this reason go away 
less kindly disposed to them, but preserving thy 
own character, and continuing friendly and be- 
nevolent and kind, and on the other hand not 
as if thou wast torn away ; but as when a man 
dies a quiet death, the soul is easily separated 
from the body, such also ought thy departure 
from men to be, for nature united thee to them 
and associated thee. But does she now dissolve 
the union ? Well, I am separated as from kins- 
men, not however dragged resisting, but withbut 
compulsion ; for this too is one of the things ac- 
cording to nature. 

37. Accustom thyself as much as possible on 
the occasion of anything being done by any per- 
son to inquire with thyself, For what object is 
this man doing this? but begin with thyself, 
and examine thyself first. 

38. Remember that this which pulls the strings 
is the thing which is hidden within : this is the 
power of persuasion, this is life, this, if one may 
so say, is man. In contemplating thyself never 
include the vessel which surrounds thee and 
these instruments which are attached about it. 

^ He says KaK6v, but as he affirms in other places that 
death is no evil, he must mean what others may call an €Svil| 
and he means only *' what is going to happen." 



M. AUBELIUS ANTONINUS. 160 

For they are like to an axe, differing only in 
this that they grow to the body. For indeed 
there is no more use in these parts without the 
cause which moves and checks them, than in 
the weaver's shuttle, and the writer's pen and 
the driver's whip.^ 

»3 See " The Philosophy of Antoninus." 



16ft THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEUOR 



t 

J 

i XI. 

These are tiie properties of the rational soul -. 
ft sees itself, analyzes itself, and makes itself 
such as it chooses ; the fruit which it bears it- 
self enjoys — ^for the fruits of plants and that in 
animals which corresponds to fruits others en- 
joy — it obtains its own end, wherever the limit 
of life may be fixed. Not as in a dance and in 
a play and in such like things, where the whole 
action is incomplete, if any tiling cuts it short ; 
but in every part and wherever it may be 
stopped, it makes what has been set before it 
full and complete, so that it can say, 1 have 
what is my own. And further it traverses the 
whole universe, and the surrounding vacuum, 
and surveys its form, and it extends itself into 
the infinity of time and embraces and compre- 
hends the periodical renovation of all things, 
and it comprehends that those who come after 
us will see nothing new, nor have those before 
us seen anything more, but in a manner he who 
is forty years old, if he has any understanding' 
at all, has seen by virtue of the uniformity that 
prevails all things which have been and all that 
will be. This too is a property of the rational 
soul, love of one's neighbor, and truth and mod- 
esty, and to value nothing more than itself, 
which is also the property of Law.^ Thus then 
right reason differs not at all from the reason of 
justice. 

2. Thou wilt set little value on pleasing song 
and dancing and the pancratium, if thou wilt 
distribute the melody of the voice into its sev- 
eral sounds, and ask thyself as to each, if thou 
art mastered by this for thou wilt be prevented 

*I^aw i? tbe order by which all things are govenieij. 



M. AITHELIUS A2fT0NmUS. 167 

by sliame from confessing it : and in the matter 
of dancing, if at each movement and attitude 
thou wilt do the same ; and the like also in the 
matter of the pancratium; In all things then, 
except virtue and the acts of virtue, remember 
to apply thyself to their several parts, and by 
this division to come to value them little : and 
apply this rule also to thy whole life. 

3. What a soul that is which is ready, if at 
any moment it must be separated from the body, 
and ready either to be extinguished or dispersed 
or continue to exist; but. so that this readiness 
comes from a man's own judgment, not from 
mere obstinacy, as with the Christians, but con- 
siderately and with dignity and in a way to 
persuade another, without tragic show. 

4. Have I done something for the general in* 
terest ? Well then I have had my reward. Let 
tliis always be present to thy mind, and never 
stop [doing good]. 

5. What is thy art ? to be good. And how 
is this accomplished well except by general prin- 
ciples, some about the nature of the universe, 
and others about the proper constitution of 
man? 

6. At first tragedies were brought on the 
stage as means of reminding men of the things 
which happen to them, and that it is according 
to nature for things to happen so, and that, if 
thou art delighted with what is shown on the 
stage, thou shouldst not be troubled with that 
which takes place on the larger stage. For thou 
seest that these things must be accomplished 
thus, and that even they bear them who cry 
out^ " O Cithaeron." And indeed some things 
are said well by the dramatic writers, of which 
kind is the following especially : — 

Me and my cliildren if the gods neglect. 
This has its reason too.* 

s Sophocles, CEdipus Bex. 
• » See VII. 41. 38. 40. 



168: TSOHGETS OF THE EMPEBOB 

And again 

We must not chafe and fret at that which happens. 

And 

Life's harvest reap like the wheat's fruitful ear. 

And other things of the same kind. 

After tragedy the old comedy was introduced, 
■which had a magisterial freedom of speech, and 
by its very plainness of speaking was useful in 
reminding men to beware of insolence ; and for 
this purpose too Diogenes used to take from 
these writers. 

But as to the middle comedy which came 
next, observe what it was, and again for what 
object the new comedy was introduced, which 
gradually sunk down into a mere mimic artifice. 
That some good things are said by these writers 
too, everybody knows: but the whole plan of 
such poetry and dramaturgy, to what end does 
it look ! 

7. How plain does it appear that there is not 
another condition of life so well suited for phil- 
osophizing as this in which thou now happenest 
to be. 

8. A branch cut off from the adjacent branch 
.must of necessity be cut off from the whole tree 
also. So too a man when he is separated from 
another man has fallen off from the whole social 
community. Now as to a branch, another cuts 
it off, but a man by his own act separates him- 
self from his neighbor when he hates him and 
turns away from him, and he does not know 
that he has at the same time cut himself off 
from the whole social system. Yet he has this 
privilege certainly from Zeus who framed soci- 
ety, for it is in our power to grow again to that 
which is near to ns and again to become a part 
which helps to make up the whole. However 
if it often happens, this kind of separation, it 
makes it difficult for that which detaches itself 
to be brought to unity and to be restored to its 



M. AXTR-ELIUS ANTOmNZrS. 169, 

former condition. Finally, the branch, which 
from the first grew together with the tree and 
has continued to have one life with it, is not 
like that which after being cut off is then in- 
grafted, but it is something like what the gar- 
deners mean when they say that it grows with 
the rest of the tree, but f that it has not the 
same mind with it. 

9. As those who try to stand in thy way when 
thou art praceeding according to right reason, 
will not be able to turn thee aside from thy 
proper action, so neither let them drive thee 
from thy benevolent feelings towards them, but 
be on thy guard equally in both matters, not 
only in the matter of steady judgment and ac- 
tion, but also in the matter of gentleness to- 
wards those who try to hinder or otherwise 
trouble thee. For this also is a weakness, to be 
vexed at them, as well as to be diverted from 
thy course of action and to give way through 
fear; for both are equally deserters from their 
post, the man who does it through fear, and the 
man who is alienated from him who is by nat- 
ure a kinsman and a friend. 

10. There is no nature which is inferior to 
art, for the arts imitate the natures of things. 
But if this is so that nature which is the most 
perfect and the most comprehensive of all nat- 
ures cannot fall short of the skill of the art. 
Now all arts do the inferior things for the sake 
of the superior ; therefore the universal nature 
does so too. And indeed hence is the origin 
of justice, and in justice the other virtues have 
their foundation : for justice will not be observed, 
if we either care for middle things [things 
indifferent], or are easily deceived and careless 
and changeable, (v. 16. 30 ; vii. 65.) 

11. If the things do not come to thee, the pur- 
suits and avoidances of which disturb thee, still 
iu a manner.thou goest to them. Let then thy 
judgment about them be at rest, and they will 
remain quiet, and thou wilt-oot be SG&n. eitber 
pursuing or avoiding,^ 



I70 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR 

12. The spherical form of the soul maintains 
its figure, when it is neither extended towards 
any object, nor contracted inwards, nor dispersed 
nor sinks down, but is illuminated by light, by 
which it sees the truth, the truth of all things are 
the truth that is in itself, (vin. 41. 45 ; xii. 
3.) 

18. Suppose any man shall despise me. Let 
him look to that himself. But I will look to 
this, that I be not discovered doing or saying 
anything deserving of contempt. Shall any 
man hate me ? Let him look to it. But I will 
be mild and benevolent towards every man and 
even to him, ready to show him his mistake, not 
reproachfully, nor yet as making a display of 
my endurance, but nobly and honestly, like the 

freat Phocion, unless indeed he only assumed it. 
'or the interior [parts] ought to be such, and 
a man ought to be seen by the gods neither 
dissatisfied with anything nor complaining. For 
what evil is it to thee, if thou art now doing 
what is agreeable to thy own nature and art 
satisfied with that which at this moment is 
suitable to the nature of the universe, since 
thou art a human being placed at thy postf to 
endure whatever is for the common advantage. 

14. Men despise one another and flatter one 
another ; and men wish to raise themselves above 
one another and crouch before one another. 

15. How unsound and insincere is he who 
says, I have determined to deal with thee in a fair 
way. — What art thou doing, man ? There is no 
occasion to give this notice. It will soon show 
itself by acts. The voice ought to be plainly 
written on the forehead. Such as a man's 
character is,t he immediately shows it in his 
eyes, just as he who is beloved forthwith reads 
everything in the eyes of lovers. The man who 
is honest and good ought to be exactly like a 
man who smells strong, so that the bystander 
as soon as he comes near him must smell 
whether he choose or not. But the affectation of 



M. AURELWS ANTONINUS. 171 

simplicity is like a crooked stick.* Nothing is 
more disgraceful than a wolfish friendship [false 
friendship]. Avoid this most of all. The good 
and simple and benevolent show all these things 
in the eyes, lind there is no mistaking. 

16. As to living in the best way, this power 
is in the soul, if it be indijfferent tc things which 
are indifferent. And it will be indiffernt, if it 
looks on each cf these things separately and all 
together, and 1 it remembers that not one cf 
them produces in us an opinion about itself, nor 
comes to us ; but these things remain immov- 
able, and it is we ourselves who produce the 
judgments about them, and, as we may say, 
write them in ourselves, it being in our power 
not to write them, and it being in our power, if 
perchance these judgments have imperceptibly 
got admission to our minds, to our minds to 
wipe them out ; and if we remember also that 
such attention will only be for a short time, 
and then life will be at an end. Besides what 
trouble is there at all in doing this ? For if 
these things are according to nature, rejoice in 
them, and they will be easy to thee : but if 
contrary to nature, seek what is conformable 
to thy own nature, and strive towards this, 
even if it bring no reputation ; for every man 
is allowed to seek his own good. 

17. Consider whence each thing is come, 
and of what it consists,! and into what it 
changes, and what kind of a thing it will be 
when it has changed, and that it will sustain 
no harm. 

18. [If any have offended against thee, con- 
sider firs] : What is my relation to men, and 
that we are made for one another ; and in another 
respect, I was made to be set over them, as a 

* Instead of (rKdXixij Saumaise reads <TKanfii^. There Is a 
Greek proverb, a-Kan^bv ^v\ov ovhiiror 6pS6v: " You cannot make 
acrooked stick straight. 

The wolfish friendship is an allusion to the fable of ha« 
Bheep and the wolves. 



172 T t: EMPEBOR 

ram over the flock or a bull over the herd. But 
examine the matter from first principles from this 
If all things are not mere atoms, it is nature 
whichorders all things : if this is so, the inferior 
things exist for the sake of the superior and 
these for the sake of one another, (n ; ix. 39 ; 
V. 16; III. 4) 

Second, consider what kind of men they are 
at table, in bed, and so forth: and particularly, 
under wh;it compulsions in respect of opinions 
they are ; and as to their acts, consider with 
what pride they do what they do. (viii. 14 ; ix. 
34.) 

Third, that if men do rightly what they do, 
we ought not to be displeased ; but if they do 
not right, it is plain thay they do so involun- 
tarily and in ignorance. For as every soul is 
unwillingly deprived of the truths so also is it 
unwillingly deprived of the power of behaving 
to each man according to his deserts. Accord- 
ingly men are pained when they are called un- 
just, ungrateful, and greedy, and in a word 
wrong-doers to their neighbors, (vii. 62, 63 ; 
II. 1 ; VII. 26 ; viii. 29.) 

Fourth, consider that thou also doest many 
things wrong, and that thou art a man like 
others; and even if thou dost abstain from cer- 
tain faults, still thou hast the disposition to 
commit them, though either through cowardice, 
or concern about reputation or some such mean 
motive thou dost abstain from such faults. 
(1. 17.) 

Fifth, consider that thou dost not even under- 
stand whether men are doing wrong or not, for 
many things are done with a certain reference to 
circumstances. And in short, a man must learn 
a great deal to enable him to pass a correct 
judgment on another man's acts. (ix. 38 ; IV. 
61.) 

Sixth, consider when thou ar': much vexed or 
grieved, that man's life is only a moment, and 
after a short time we are all laid out dead. (vil. 
58; (1^.48.^ 



M. AVREtms ANTONINUS. t^ 

Seventli, that it is not men's acts wbicll (dis- 
turb us, for those acts have their foundation in. 
men's ruling principles, but it is our own opin- 
ions which disturb us. Take away these opin- 
ions then, and resolve to dismiss thy jud.gment 
about an act as if it were something grievous, 
and thy anger is gone. How then shalt thou take 
away these opinions? By reflecting that np 
wrongful act of another brings shame on thee : 
for unless that which is shameful is alone bad, 
thou also must of necessity do many things 
wrong and become a robber and everything 
else. (v. 25 ; vii. 16.) 

Eighth, consider how much more pain is 
brought on us by the anger and vexation caused 
by such acts than by the acts themselves, asife 
which we are angry and vexed, (iv. 39. 49 ; vn. 
24.) 

Ninth, consider that benevolence is invincible, 
if it be genuine, and not an affected smile and 
acting a part. For what will the most violent 
man do to thee, if thou continuest to be ^ "^ a 
benevolent disposition towards him, and if, as 
opportunity offers, thou gently admonishest hiro 
and calmly correctest his errors at the very time 
when he is trying to do thee harm, saying. Not 
so, my child : we are constituted by nature for 
something else : I shall certainly not be injured, 
but thou art injuring thyself, my child. — And 
show him with gentle tact and by general prin- 
ciples that this is so, and that even bees do not 
do as he does, nor any animals which are formed 
by nature to be gregarious. And thou must do 
this neither with any double meaning nor in the 
way of reproach, but affectionately and without 
any rancor in thy soul ; and not as if thou 
wert lecturing him, nor yet that any bystander 
may admire, but either when he is alone, and if 
others are present . . .^ 

Remember these nine rules, as if thou hadst 

^ It appears that there is a defect iu the text hjero. 



174 TSOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR 

received them as a gift from the Muses, and 
begin at last to be a man, so long as thou livest. 
But thou must equally avoid flattering men and 
being vexed at them, for both are unsocial and 
lead to harm. And let this truth be present to 
thee in the excitement of anger, that to be 
moved by passion is not manly, but that mild- 
ness and gentleness, as they are more agreeable 
to human nature, so also are they more manly ; 
and he who possesses these qualities possesses 
strength, nerves, and courage, and not the man 
who is subject to fits of passion and discontent. 
For in the same degree in which a man's mind 
is nearer to freedom from all passion, in the 
same degree also is it nearer to strength : and 
as the sense of pain is a characteristic of weak- 
ness, so also is anger. For he who yields to 
pain and he who yields to anger, both are 
wounded and both submit. But if thou wilt, 
receive also a tenth present from the leader of 
the Muses [Apollo], and it is this — that to ex- 
pect bad men not to do wrong is madness, for 
he who expects this desires an impossibility. 
But to allow men to behave so to others, and to 
expect them not to do thee any wrong, is irra- 
tional and tyrannical. 

' 19. There are four principal aberrations of 
the superior faculty against which thou shouldst 
be constantly on thy guard, and when thou hast 
detected them, thou shouldst wipe them out and 
say on each occasion thus : this thought is not 
iiecessary : this tends to destroy social union : 
this which thou art going to say comes not from 
the real thoughts ; for thou shouldst consider it 
among the most absurd of things for a man not 
to speak from his real thoughts. But the fourth 
is when thou, shalt reproachf thyself for any- 
thing, for this is an evidence of the diviner part 
within thee being overpowered and jdelding to 
the less honorable and to the perishable part, 
the body, and to its gross pleasures, (iv. 24 ; 

n. 16.) 



M. AVRELIUS ANTONINUS. 175 

20. Thy aerial part and all the fiery parts 
which are mingled in thee, though by nature 
they have an upward tendency, still in obedience 
to the disposition of the universe they are over- 
powered here in the compound mass [the body]. 
And also the whole of the earthy part in thee 
and the watery, though their tendency is down- 
ward, still are raised up and occupy a position 
which is not their natural one. In this manner 
then the elemental parts obey the universal, for 
when they have been fixed in any place perforce 
they remain there until agahi the universal shall 
sound the signal for dissolution. Is it not then 
strange that thy intelligent part only should be 
disobedient and discontented with its own place ? 
And yet no force is imposed on it, but only those 
things which are conformable to its nature ; still 
it does not submit, but is carried in the opposite 
direction. For the movement towards injustice 
and intemperance and to anger and grief and 
fear is nothing else than the act of one who de- 
viates from nature. And also when tlie ruling 
faculty is discontented with anything that hap- 
pens, then too it deserts its post : for it is con- 
stituted for piety and reverence towards the gods 
no less than for justice. For these qualities also 
are comprehended under the generic term of 
contentment with the constitution of things, 
and indeed they are prior ^ to acts of justice. 

^ The word Trpeo-^i^raey which is here translated "prior," 
may also mean "superior :" but Antoninus seems to say 
that piety and reverence of the gods precede all virtues, and 
that other virtues are derived from them, even justice, which 
in another passage (xi. 10) he makes the foundation of all 
virtues. The ancient notion of justice is that of giving to 
every one his due. It is not a legal definition, as some have 
supposed, but a moral rule which law cannot in all cases 
enforce. Besides law has its own rules, which are some- 
times moral and sometimes immoral ; but it enforces them 
all simply because they are general rules, and if it did not 
or could not enforce them, so far Law would not be Law. 
Justice, or the doing of what is just, implies a universal 
and obedience to it ; and as we all live under universal Law, 
which commands both our body and our intelligence, and 
is the law of our nature, that is the law of the whole consti- 



176 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEBOR. 

21. He who has not one and always the same 
object in life, cannot be one and the same all 
through his life. But what I have said is not 
enough, unless this also is added, what this ob- 
ject ought to be. For as there is not the same 
opinion about all the things which in some Avay 
or other are considered by the majority to be 
good, but only about some certain things, that 
is, things which concern the common interest ; so 
also ought we to propose to ourselves an object 
which shall be of a common kind [social] and 
political. For he who directs all his own efforts 
to this object, will make all his acts alike, and 
thus will always be the same. 

22. Think of the country mouse and of the 
town mouse, and of the alarm and trepidation of 
the town mouse.'^ 

23. Socrates used to call the opinions of the 
many by the name of Lamiae, bugbears to fright- 
en childicn. 

24. The Lacedaemonians at their public spec- 
tacles used to set seats in the shade for strangers, 
but themselves sat down anywhere. 

25. Socrates excused himself to I erdiecas ^ 
for not going to him, saying. It is because I 
would not perish by the worst of all ends, that 
is, I would not receive a favor and then be un- 
able to return it. 

26. In the writings of the [Ephesians] ^ there 
was this precept, constantly to think of some 
one of the men of former times who practised 
virtue. 

27. The Pythagoreans bid us in the morning 
look to the heavens that we may be reminded of 

tution of man, we must endeavor to discover what this su- 
preme Law is. It is the will of the power that rules all. 
By acting in obedience to this will, we do justice, and by 
consequence everything else that we ought to do. 

'' The story is told by Horace in his Satires (ii. 6), and by 
others since, but not better. 

* Perhaps the emperor made a mistake here, for other 
writers say that it was Archelaus, the son ot Perdiccas, 
who invited Socrates to Macedonia. 

*Gatsaker suggested ' EinKovpiiuv for ' Efefflay, 



M. AUEELIUS ANTONINUS. Vf ^ 

those bodies whicli continually do the same 
things and in the same manner perform their 
work, and also be reminded of their purity and 
nudity. For there is no veil over a star. 

28. Consider what a man Socrates was when 
he dressed himself in a skin, after Xanthippe 
had taken his cloak and gone out, and what 
Socrates said to his friends who were ashamed 
of him and drew back from him when they saw 
him dressed thus. 

29. Neither in writing nor in reading wilt thou 
be able to lay down rules for others before thou 
shalt have first learned to obey rules thyself. 
Much more is this so in life. 

30. A slave thou art : free speech is not for 

thee. 

31. And my heart laughed within. (Od. 

IX. 413.) 

32. And virtue they will curse speaking harsh 

words. (Hesiod, Works and Dat/s, 184.') 

33. To look for the fig in winter is a madman's 
act : such is he who looks for his child when it 
is no longer allowed. (Epictetus, in. 24.) 

34. When a man kisses his child, said Epicte- 
tus, he should whisper to himself, " To-morroAV 
perchance thou wilt die" — But those are words 
of bad omen — " No word is a word of bad 
omen," said Epictetus, " wliich expresses any 
work of nature ; or if it is so, it is also a word 
of bad omen to speak of the ears of corn being 
reaped." (Epictetus, iii. 24.) 

35. The unripe grape, the ripe bunch, the 
dried grape, all are changes, not into nothing, 
but into something which exists not yet. (Epic- 
tetus, III. 24.) 

36. No man can rob us of our free will. 
(Epictetus, in. 22.) 

37. Epictetus also said, a man must discover 
an art [or rules] with respect to giving his as- 
sent ; and in respect to his movements he must 
be careful that they be made with regard to cir- 
cumstances, that they be consistent with social 

12 



ITS THOUGHTS OF THE EMFEKOB 

interests, that they have regard to the value of 
the object ; and as to sensual desire, he should 
altogether keep away from it ; and as to avoid- 
ance, [aversion] he should not show it with re- 
spect to any of the things which are not in our 
power. 

38. The dispute then, he said, is not about 
any common matter, but about being mad or 
not. 

39. Socrates used to say, What do you want? 
Souls of rational men or irrational ? — Souls of 
rational men — Of what rational men ? Sound or 
unsound ? — Sound — Why then do you not seek 
for them ? — Because we have them — Why then 
do you fight and quarrel? 



M.AVBl:Lma ANTONINUS, 179 



XII. 

All those things at which thou wishest 
to arrive by a circuitous road, thou canst have 
now, if tliou dost not refuse them to thyself. 
And this means, if thou wilt take no notice of all 
the past, and trust the future to providence, and 
direct tlie present only conformabl}^ to pipty and 
justice. Conformably to piety, that thou niayst be 
content with the lot which is assigned to thee, 
for nature designed it for thee and thee for it. 
Conform abl}^ to justice, tliat thou mayst always 
speak the truth freely and without disguise, and 
do the things which are agreeable to law and ac- 
cording to the worth of each. And let neither 
another man's wickedness hinder tliee, nor opin- 
ion nor voice, nor yet the sensations of tlie poor 
flesh wliich has grown about thee ; for the pas- 
sive part will look to this. If then, whatever 
the time may be when thou shalt be near to thy 
departure, neglecting everj^thing else thou shalt 
respect only thy ruling faculty and the divinity 
within thee, and if thou shalt be afraid not be- 
cause thou must some time ceaSe to live, but if 
thou shalt fear never to have begun to live ac- 
cording to nature — then thou wilt be a man 
worthy of the universe which has produced thee, 
and thou wilt cease to be a stranger in thy na- 
tive land, and to wonder at things which happen 
daily as if they were something unexpected, and 
to be dependent on this or that. 

2. God sees the minds (ruling principles) of 
all men bared of the material vesture and rind 
and impurities. With his intellectual part alone 
he touches the intelligence only which has flow- 
ed and been derived from himself iato these 
bodies. And if thou also usest thyt;elf to do 



180 THOUGHTS 0^ TBS EMPEROIt 

this, thou wilt rid thyself of thy much trouble. 
For lie wh'o regards not the poor flesh which en- 
velopes him, surely will not trouble himself by 
looking after raiment and dwelling and fame 
and such like externals and show. 

3. The things are three of which thou art 
composed, body, breath [life], intelligence. Of 
these the first two are thine, so far as it is thy 
duty to take care of them ; but the third alone 
is properly thine. Therefore if thou shalt sepa- 
rate from thyself, that is, from thy understand- 
ing, whatever others do or say, and whatever 
thou hast done or said thyself, and whatever 
future things trouble thee because they may 
happen, and whatever in the body which envel- 
opes thee or in the breath, [life] which is by 
nature associated with the body, is attached to 
thee independent of thy will, and whatever the 
external circumfluent vortex whirls round, so 
that the intellectual power exempt from the 
things of fate can live pure and free by itself, 
doing what is just and accepting what happens 
and saying the truth : if thou wilt separate, I 
say, from this ruling faculty the things which 
are attached to it by the impressions of sense, 
and the things of time to come and of time that 
is past, and wilt make thyself like Empedocles' 
sphere, — 

All round and in its joyous rest reposing.^ 
and if thou shalt strive to live only what is really 
thy life, that is, the present — then thou wilt be 
able to pass that portion of life which remains for 
thee up to the time of thy death, free from per- 
turbations, nobly, and obedient to thy own dae- 
mon [to the god that is within, thee], (ii. 13. 
17 ; III. 5, 6 ; xi. 12.) 

4. I have often wondered how it is that every 
man loves himself more than all the rest of men, 
but yet sets less value on his own opinion of 

^ The verse of Empedocles is corrupt in Antoninus. It 
has been restored by Peyron thus : 



M. AVnSLtVS ANTONINUS: 181 

I 

timself than on the opinion of others. If then 
a god or a wise teacher should present himself 
to a man and bid him to think of nothing and 
to design nothing which he would not express 
as soon as he conceived it, he could not endure 
it even for a single day. So much more respect 
have we to what our neighbors shall think of us 
than to what we shall think of ourselves. 

5. How can it be that the gods after having 
arranged all things well and benevolently for 
mankind, have overlooked this alone, that some 
men and very good men, and men who, as we 
may say, have had most communion with the 
divinity, and through pious acts and religious 
observances have been most intimate with the 
divinity, when they have once died should 
never exist again, but should be completely ex- 
tinguished ? 

But if this is so, be assured that if it ought 
to have been otherwise, the gods would have 
done it. For if it were just, it would also be 
possible ; and if it were according to nature, 
nature would have had it so. But because it is, 
not so, if in fact it is not so, be thou convinced 
that it ought not to have been so : — for thou 
seest even of thyself that in this inquiry thou 
art disputing with the deity ; and we should 
not thus dispute with the gods, unless they were 
most excellent and most just ; — but if this is so, 
they would not have allowed anything in the 
ordering of the universe to be neglected unjust- 
^ and irrationally. 

'. Practise thyself even in the things which 
th», despairest of accomplishing. For even the 
left land, which is ineffectual for all other things 
for want of practice, holds the bridle more vigor- 
ously than the right hand ; for it has been prac- 
tised in this. 

7. Consider in what condition both in body 
and soul a man should be when he is overtaken 
by death ; and consider the shortness of life the 
boundless abyss of time past and future, th^ 
feebleness of all matter. 



Ig2 TSOITGBTS OF THE UMPEBOB 

8. Contemplate the formative principles [form] 
of things bare of their coverings ; thepurposes oi 
action ; consider what pain is, what pleasure is, 
and death and fame ; who is to himself the cause 
of his uneasiness ; how no man is hindered by 
another ; that everything is opinion. 

9. In the application of thy j*iinciples thou 
must be like the pancratiast, not like the gladia- 
tor ; for the gladiator lets fall the sword which he 
uses and is killed ; but the other always has his 
hand, and needs to do nothing else than use it. 

10. See what things are in themselves, dividing 
them into matter, form and purpose. 

11. What a power man has to do nothing ex- 
cept what God will approve, and to accept all 
that God may give him. 

12. With respect to that which happens con- 
formably to nature, we ought to blame neither 
gods, for they do nothing wrong either volunta- 
rily or involuntarily, nor men, for they do nothing 
wrong except involuntarily. Consequently we 
should blame nobody, (ii. 11, 12, 13 ; vn. 62 ; 
vrii. 17.) 

13. How ridiculous and what a stranger he is 
who is surprised at anything which happens in 
life. 

14. Either there is a fatal necessity and invin- 
cible order, or a kind providence, or a confusion 
without a purpose and without a director. If 
then there is an invincible necessity, why dost 
ihou resist ? But if there is a providence which 
allows itself to be propitiated, make thyself wor- 
thy of the help of the divinit3^ But if there is a 
confusion without a governor, be content that in 
such a tempest thoa hast in thyself a certain rul- 
ing intelligence. And even if the tempest carry 
thee away, let it carry away the poor flesh, the 
breath, everything else ; for the intelligence at 
least it will not carry away. 

15. Does the light of the lamp shine without 
losing its splendor until it is extinguished ; and 
Bhall the truth whicji is in thee and justice and 



M. AURELIUS ANTONINUS. l88 

temperance be extinguished [before thy death] ? 

16. When a man has presented the appearance 
of having done wrong, [say,] How then do I 
know if this is a wrongful act ? And even if he 
nas done wrong, how do I know that lie has not 
(jondeinned himself ? and so this is like tearing his 
own face. Consider that he, who would not 
have the bad man do wrong, is like the man who 
would not have the fig-tree to bear juice in the 
lig-s and infants to cry and the horse to neigh, 
and whatever else must of necessity be. For 
wliat must a man do who has such a character ? 
If then thou art irritable,! cure this man's dis- 
pGsition.2 

17. If it is not right, do not do it : if it is not 
true, do not say it. [For let thy efforts bo. — ]^ 

18. In everything always observe what the 
thing is which produces for thee an appearance, 
and resolve it by dividing it into the formal, the 
material, the purpose, and the time within which 
it must end. 

19. Perceive at last that thou hast in ihee 
something better and more divine than the things 
which cause the various effects, and as it were 
pull thee by the strings. Wliat is there now in 
my mind? is it fear, or suspicion, or desire, or 
anything of the kind? (v. 11.) 

30. First do nothing inconsiderately, nor with- 
out a purpose. Second, make thy acts refer to 
nothing else than to a social end. 

21. Consider that before long thou wilt be no- 
body a,nd nowhere, nor will any of the things ex- 
ist which thou now seest, nor any of those who 
are now living. For all things are formed by 
nature to change and be turned and to perish in 
order that other things in continuous succession 
may exist. 

22 Consider that everything is opinion, and 

2 The interpreters translate yopy6^ by the words " acer, va- 
lidusque, " and '* skiilul." But in Epictetus yopy6^ means 
*' vehement," " prone to anger," " irritable." 

• There is something wrong here, or incomplete. 



184 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEEOB. 

opinion is in thy power. Take away then, y^ \en 
thou choosest, thy opinion, and like a marin r, 
who was doubled the promontory, thou wilt fin J 
calm, everything stable, and a waveless bay. 

23. Any one activity whatever it may be, when 
it has ceased at its proper time, suffers no evil be- 
cause it has ceased ; nor he who has done this act, 
does he suffer any evil for this reason that the 
act has ceased. In like manner then the whole 
which consists of all the acts, which is our life, 
if it cease at its proper time, suffers no evil for 
this reason that it has ceased ; nor he who has 
terminated this series at the proper time, has he 
been ill dealt with. But the proper time and 
the limit nature fixes, sometimes as in old age 
the peculiar nature of man, but always the uni- 
versal nature, by the change of whose parts the 
whole universe continues ever young and per- 
fect. And everything which is useful to the 
universal is always good and in season. There- 
fore the termination of life for every man is no 
evil, because neither is it shameful, since it is 
both independent of the will and not opposed to 
the general interest, but it is good, since it is 
seasonable and profitable to and congruent with 
the universal. For thus too he is moved by the 
deity who is moved in the same manner with 
the deity and towards the same things in his 
mind. 

24. These three principles thou must have in 
readiness. In the things which thou doest do 
nothing either inconsiderately or otherwise than 
as justice herself would act ; but with respect to 
what may happen to thee from without, consider 
that it happens either by chance or according to 
providence, and thou must neither blame chance 
nor accuse providence. Second, consider what 
every being is from the seed to the time of its 
receiving a soul, and from the reception of a soul 
to the giving back of the same, and of what things 
every being is compounded and into what things 
it is resolved. Third, if thou shouldst suddenly 



M. AtrnELllTS ANTomNUB. 185 

be raised up above the earth, and shouldst look 
down on human things, and observe the variety 
of them how great it is, and at the same time also 
shouldst see at a glance how great is the number 
of beings who dwell all around in the air and the 
aetlier, consider that as often as thou shouldst be 
raised up, thou wouldst see the same things, 
sameness of form and shortness of duration. 
Are these things to be proud of? 

25. Cast away opinion : thou art saved. Who 
then hinders thee from casting it away? 

26. When thou art troubled about anything, 
thou hast forgotten this, that all things happen 
according to the universal nature ; and forgotten 
this, that a man's wrongful act is nothing to thee ; 
and further thou hast forgotten this, that every- 
thing which happens, always happened so and 
will liappen so, and now happens so everywhere ; 
forgotten this too, how close is the kinship be- 
tween a man and the whole human race, for it 
is a community, not of a little blood or seed, but 
of intelligence. And thou hast forgotten this 
too, that every man's intelligence is a god, and 
is an efflux of tlie deity; and forgotten this, that 
nothing is a man's own, but that his child and 
his body and his very soul came from the deity; 
forgotten this, that everything is opinion ; and 
lastly thou hast forgotten that every man lives 
the present time only, and loses only this. 

27. Constantly bring to thy recollection those 
■who have complained greatly about anything, 
those who have been most conspicuous by the 
greatest fame or misfortunes or enmities or for- 
tunes of any kind ; then chink where are they 
all now ? Smoke and ash and a tale, or not even 
a tale. And let there be present to thy mind 
also everything of this sort, how Fabius Catulli- 
nus lived in this country, and Lucius Lupus in 
his gardens, and Stertinius at Baiae, and Tiberi- 
us at Capreae and Velius Rufus [or Rufus at 
Velia] ; and in fine think of the eager pursuit 
of anything conjoined with pride; and how 



186 THOUOHTS OF THE EMPEROB 

worthless everything is after which men vio- 
lently strain ; and how much more philosophi- 
cal it is for a man in the opportunities presented 
to him to show himself just, temperate, obedient 
to the gods, and to do this with all simplicity : 
for the pride which is proud of its want of pride 
is the most intolerable of all. 

28. To those who ask, Where hast thou seen 
the gods or how dost thou comprehend that they 
exist and so worshippest them, I answer, in the 
first place, they may be seen even with the eyes ;* 
in the second place neither have I seen even my 
own soul and yet I honor it. Thus then with 
respect to the gods, from what I constantly ex- 
perience of their power, from this I comprehend 
that they exist and I venerate them. 

29. The safety of life is this, to examine every- 
thing all through, what it is itself, what is its ma- 
terial, what its formal part ; with all thy soul to 
do justice and to say the truth. What remains 
except to enjoy life by joining one good thing to 
another so as not to leave even t}\e smallest inter- 
vals between ? 

30. There is one light of the sun, though it is 

* "Seen even with the eyes." It is supposed that this 
may be explained by the Stoic doctrine, that the universe is 
a god (iv. 23), and tliat the celestial bodies are gods (viii. 19), 
But the emperor may mean that we know that thq gods 
exist, as lie afterwards states it, because we see what they 
do; as we know that man has intellectual powers, because 
we see what lie does, and in no other way do we know it. 
This passage then will agree with the passage in the Epistle 
to the Romans (i. v. 20), and with the Epistle to the Colos- 
sians (i. v. 15), in which Jesus Christ is named " the image 
of the invisible god;" and with the passage in the Gospel 
of St. John (xiv. v. 9). 

Gataker, whose notes are a wonderful collection of learn- 
ing, and all of it sound and good, quotes a passage of Calvin 
which is founded on St. Paul's language (Rom. i. v. 20): 
"God by creating the universe [or world, raundum], being 
himself invisible, has presented himself to our eyes con- 
spicuously in a certain visible form." He also quotes 
Seneca (De Benef. iv. c. 8.): " Quocnnque te flexeris, ibi 
ilium videbisoccurentum tibi: nihil ab illo vacat, opussuum 
ipse iraplet." Compare also Cicero, De Senectute (c. 22), 
and Xenophon's Cyropsedia. (viii. 7.) I think that my in- 
terpretation of Antoninus is right. 



I 



TBOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR 187 

distributed over walls, mountains, and other 
things infinite. There is one common substance, 
though it is distributed among countless bodies 
which have their several qualities. There is one 
soul, though it is distributed among infinite nat- ■ 
tires and individual circumscriptions [or individ- 
uals]. There is oiie intelligent soul, though it 
seems to be divided. Now in the things which 
have been mentioned all the other parts, such 
as those which are air and substance, are without 
sensation and have no fellowship : and yet even 
these parts the intelligent principle holds together 
and the gravitation towards the same. But intel- 
lect in a peculiar manner tends to that which is of 
the same kin, and combines with it, and the feel- 
ing for communion is not interruptcJ. 

31. What dost thou wish? to continue to exist ? 
Well, dost thou wish to have sensation ? move- 
ment ? growth ? and then again to cease to grow ? 
to use thy speech ? to think ? What is there of all 
these things which seems to thee worth desiring? 
But if it is easy to set little value on all these 
things, turn to that which remains, which is to 
follow reason and god. But it is inconsistent 
with honoring reason and god to be troubled be- 
cause by death a man will be deprived of the 
other things. 

32. How small a part of the boundless and un- 
fathomable time is assigned to every man ? for it 
is very soon swallowed up in the eternal. And 
how small a part of the whole substance? and 
how small a part of the universal soul ? and on 
what a small clod of the whole earth thou creep- 
est ? Reflecting on all this consider nothing to 
be great, except to act as thy nature leads thee, 
and to endure that which the common nature 
brings. 

33. How does the ruling faculty make use of 
itself ? for all lies in this. But everything else, 
whether it is in the power of thy will or not, is 
only lifeless ashes and smoke. 

34. This reflection is most adapted to move us 



IBS M. AUEELIU8 ANTONINUS. 

to contempt of death, that even those who think 
pleasure to be a good and pain an evil still have 
despised it. 

35. The man to whom that only is good which 
comes in due season, and to whom it is the same 
thing whether he has done more or fewer acts con- 
formable to right reason, and to whom it makes 
no difference whether he contemplates the world 
for a longer or a shorter time — for this man 
neither is death a terrible thing, (m. 7 ; VI. 23 ; 
X. 20 ; xii. 23.) 

86. Man, thou hast been a citizen in this great 
state [the world] : what difference does it make 
to thee whether for five years [or three] ? for 
that which is conformable to the laws is just 
for all. Where is the hardship then, if no tyrant 
nor yet an unjust judge stands thee away from 
the state, but nature who brought thee into it ? 
the same as if a praetor who has employed an 
actor dismisses him from the stage. — "But I 
have not finished the five acts, but only three of 
them" — Thou sayest well, but in life the three 
acts are the whole drama ; for what shall be a 
complete drama is determined by him who was 
once the cause of its composition, and now of its 
dissolution ; but thou art the cause of neither. 
Depart then satisfied, for he also who releases 
thee is satisfied. 



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